The House of Representatives has urged President Muhammadu Buhari to appoint more women as ministers and other sensitive positions.
This resolution followed a motion moved by Omowumi Ogunlola on Thursday, July 25 during plenary.
On Tuesday, Buhari sent nominees for various ministerial positions and the list had only seven women out of his 43 ministerial nominees.
While moving the motion, she said, “Out of the 469 Members of the National Assembly only 19 are women, with 12 of them in the House of Representatives while 7 are in the Senate; a figure that aggregates to a mere 4.l % which is not in accord with international best practices.”
She noted that “this development does not also abide with the Resolution at the Women Conference in Beijing in 1995; where it was urged that women should be recognized and given responsible positions in Governments.”
Ogunlola said further that the president should appoint more women to head MDAs.
“This anomaly can still be corrected by President Muhammadu Buhari by appointing more women into his cabinet and also appointing them to head Departments and Agencies of Government.
“Women are equal partners in the political and socio-economic development of any nation and Nigeria cannot be an exception,” she said.
The House there resolved to “mandate the Committee on Women Affairs (when constituted) to ensure compliance.”