Nigeria has been rated far behind Gabon, Cape Verde, Sierra Leone and South Africa in gender balance in governance, a human rights lawyer, Abubakar Marshal, has said.
Marshal who leads the advocacy for 35 percent affirmative action, decried the fact that Nigeria, which should be the pacesetter for other nations in the region to follow, is now falling behind.
He disclosed this when he spoke on the legal implication of the refusal of the federal government to adhere to the April 2022 High Court judgement that affirms 35 percent appointive position for Nigerian women.
He said other African countries took proactive measures to address the issue of legal gender policy.
Some civil society organisations led by Nigerian Women Trust Fund secured a historic judgement at the Federal High Court, mandating the federal government to reserve 35 percent of its appointive position for women. However, both the administration of Muhammadu Buhari and his successor, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu are yet to implement the court order.
“There have been advocacy movements by gender-pressure groups like Nigerian Women Trust Fund, National Association of Women Lawyers, Women in Politics, Yiaga Africa amongst others to ensure that the judgement is complied with”, he said.
According to the Marshal, “Since the court of law made a prohibitive order against a government institution or agency and anything that such an agency or government institution does which clearly violates that particular order is null and void it’s illegal”. He said, since the government could not appeal the judgement, it is bound to abide by the order.
“There wasn’t an attempt. you see after that particular judgement was passed down because it raised a lot of interest,” he said. As a matter of fact, he said the then minister of women affairs, Dame Paul Tallin, was very happy about the prospect of having the judgements complied with by the president.
“So, she did take that particular judgement to meet the president and that judgement was discussed in the council of states meeting and the president affirmed to the council of states meeting and members of the president’s council that he is going to comply with that judgement,” he said.
He called on President Tinubu to be a true democrat and act according to the law. “So, the president must take proactive measures and ensure that he’s a true democrat. And a true democrat is willing and ready to comply with every law and with every court order and judgment that is binding upon him.”
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