BILL: WOVAIDE Director Backs Reserved Seats Bill, Calls for Stronger Women’s Representation in Politics

By Jako,September 25,2025.

The Executive Director of the Women of Valour Initiative for Development and Empowerment (WOVAIDE), Mrs. Sarah David Ibi, has thrown her weight behind the proposed Reserved Seats for Women Bill, describing it as a historic step toward gender equity and balanced governance in Nigeria.

Mrs. Ibi, a former Chairperson of the TEKAN-ECWA Women Wing in Taraba State, said the legislation, if passed, would break systemic barriers that have long excluded women from political participation. She stressed that the proposal is not about tokenism but about creating space for women to contribute meaningfully to nation-building.

> “The Reserved Seats Bill will give Nigerian women a stronger voice in politics. We cannot continue to sit back and watch; women must be part of decision-making processes that shape the future of this country,” she said, recalling her participation in a recent national campaign in Abuja advocating for the Bill.

Citing examples from Rwanda and Senegal, where quota systems have boosted female representation in parliaments, Ibi noted that Nigeria lags far behind. Currently, only four out of 109 senators and 16 out of 360 House of Representatives members are women.

At the National Public Hearing on the 1999 Constitutional Amendment Bill held in Abuja on September 22, 2025, Mrs. Ibi underscored the transformative impact the legislation would have. If passed as proposed, it would:

Amend Section 48 to provide for 37 additional women senators (one per state and the FCT).

Amend Section 49 to create 74 additional seats for women in the House of Representatives (two per state and the FCT).

Amend Section 91 to add 108 seats for women in State Houses of Assembly nationwide (three per state).

She described the development as “cheery news,” noting that the bill already enjoys robust advocacy, bipartisan support, and strong backing from civil society organizations, women’s rights groups, international partners, and grassroots mobilization across the country.

Mrs. Ibi called on Taraba women and men of goodwill to join hands in pushing for the bill’s passage, emphasizing that it represents fairness, inclusivity, and a bold step toward closing gender inequality and addressing gender-based violence.

Comments

INSECURITY: Two suspected kidnappers nabbed in Mayo Dassa, Jalingo.

Troops of six Brigade Nigerian Army headquarters ,Jalingo have dismantled a notorious kidnapping syndicate terrorizing parts of Jalingo and Lau Local Government Areas of Taraba State. A statement by Acting Assistant Director Army Public Relations Six Brigade Nigeria Army headquarters, Jalingo, Captain Olubodunde Oni says the Brigade act on an intelligence report and two suspects, identified as Ali Idi and Haruna Umar were apprehended early this week. The statement adds that the culprits were captured during a raid at a local hotel in Mayo Dassa area of Jalingo metropolis where they were hiding. It adds that Further investigations led to the discovery that the gang's hideout was at Kona Mountain in Jalingo , where additional members of the syndicate were believed to be camped. The statement says the leader of the gang Dahiru Idi was also apprehended following an operation at kona Mountain the following day. It states that the gang leader confessed to the recent kidn...

INSECURITY:Bissaula Community Leader Raises Alarm Over Renewed Attack, Calls for Lasting Security Deployment.

By Jako Keke, November 22,2025. A community leader in Bissaula Ward of Kurmi Local Government Area, Taraba State, Alhaji Idi Ismaila, has decried a fresh wave of violence that disrupted the fragile peace recently restored to the area. He made the remarks during a press briefing where he recounted the latest attack and appealed for urgent government intervention. According to Ismaila, the Bissaula community was thrown into panic on Wednesday, 19 November 2025, at about 8:00 p.m., when unknown gunmen, suspected to be members of the Ndaka-Chamba militia, stormed the village and opened fire. Their primary target was said to be Baba Umaru Gambo, a former youth leader of the community and current Commander of the Taraba Marshal in Kurmi Local Government Area. Ismaila explained that Gambo and another resident, Kefas Hassan Bui, were seated outside when the attackers arrived. Both men fled, but the assailants allegedly pursued Gambo, shooting him multiple times and leaving him with...

Kurmi on the Brink: Why Silence Now Could Spell Disaster

By The Nigerian Newspointer Editorial Board In the quiet hills and lush forests of Kurmi Local Government Area of Taraba State, an uneasy wind is blowing. Reports of an unusual influx of Fulani and Hausa migrants fleeing violence in Northern Nigeria have unsettled the peace of this agrarian enclave. Migration in itself is not new—men and women have always moved in search of safety, trade, and survival. But what is happening in Kurmi today bears markers that Nigeria has, sadly, seen before. And if urgent steps are not taken, the consequences could be dire. A Pattern Too Familiar From Plateau to Benue, from Southern Kaduna to Zamfara, Nigeria’s troubled history is littered with stories of migration that started innocently but later spiraled into violent conflicts. Farmers and herders once lived in uneasy but manageable coexistence until land sales, unchecked settlements, and political silence turned simple disputes into ethnic conflagrations. The echoes of those past crises are now knock...

Jalingo Times.

Search This Blog