There’re More Gains To Reserved Seats For Women In Legislature Than Cost – Experts

Advocates for the increased inclusion of women in governance and decision-making have said there are more gains than costs in reserving additional seats for women in the federal and state houses of legislature.

The Executive Director of Policy and Legal Advocacy Center (PLAC), Mr Clement Nwankwo, and the Head of the European Union (EU) to Nigeria and ECOWAS, made this known at the media parley organized by PLAC, EU and the Nigerian House of Representatives in Abuja.

A breakdown of the Bill’s urges for the addition of 37 additional seats for women in the House of Representatives, 37 additional seats for then in the Senate, and 108 additional seats for women in States Houses of Assemblies. That is a total of 182 new seats for women legislators in Nigeria.

According to media reports – senators have an emolument package of N750,000 per month, allowances of N13.5 million totaling to N14.25m x 12 = N171m per annum. And House of Reps members are on an emolument package of N800,000 per month, allowances of N8.5m totaling to N9.3m x 12 = N111.6m per annum.

The total of senators, members of House of Representatives, members States Houses of Assembly equals N288.41m. Add cost of national legislative aides N9.849bn and states legislative aides N2.197bn totals to N12.334bn per annum.

The cost implication of having another 182 female lawmakers N12.33bn x 16 years (four election cycles) equals to N197,280,000,000bn. Meantime, Gender-based discrimination costs sub-Saharan Africa about $95bn annually says PLAC.

However, the benefits of having more women representatives in the legislation far outweigh the costs.

For one, it ensures effective and efficient allocation of public resources, improved conflict resolution, increase in public trust, record higher GDP per capita. Investment in education and healthcare and inclusive policies for men, women, boys and girls.

Mignot noted that benefit of a mixed legislature members is scientifically supported. “Science has shown that when you get mixed groups in classrooms, they not only perform better, but they are also more innovative and more efficient than a homogenous group. This is true also for politics.

“Most of the successful countries in the world women are well represented in governance and decision-making. So, this is not about the cost implication of representing women rather the sought constitution reform will influence the whole of society, both male and female,” concluded Mignot.

For Nwankwo, the amendment of the constitution to support reserved seats for women will address the issue of the iniquity or inequity of Nigeria’s democracy of inadequate representation of women in legislative governance, which have negatively impacted the nation internationally and abroad.

The absence of women legislatures, he said, have seen Nigeria’s number of seats at the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) and other international legislative bodies reduced. It has also led to embarrassing sights such as the current Committee on Youths at the National Assembly being chaired by a man in his 60s and 70s.

“The Special Seats Bill is not saying that men should not contest for certain positions anymore or a particular constituency. The men will contest with the women for the existing seats. But these are special seats created that only women can run for.

“This strategy is not a permanent move. It will run for a period of four election cycles (that is 16 years), after which it will be reviewed. It will ensure women will become much more capable of contesting elections,” he said.

Listing Gender Bills and Inclusive Governance as part of its proposed constitutional reforms, the Deputy Speaker, House of Representatives and Chairman House Committee on the 1999 Constitution Review, Honorable Benjamin Okezie Kalu, called on the media to help in the engendering discussions that highlights the benefits of the Reserved Seats for Women Bill, with the public masses, for the greater development of the nation.