Reps to reconsider three bills affecting women

The House of Representatives has cancelled its decision on three gender-based bills in the constitution amendment and announced plans to reconsider them in three weeks at its next voting.

The bills are: Citizenship — the bill seeks to amend section 26 of the 1999 constitution to provide for citizenship by registration for foreign spouses of Nigerian women.

Affirmative action: The bill proposes an amendment to section 223 of the constitution to provide 35% affirmative action to ensure women occupy at least 35% in political party administration.

Indigene: The bill seeks to amend the constitution to allow a woman to become an indigene of her husband’s state after at least five years of marriage.

Speaker of the house, Femi Gbajabiamila, said the bills would be considered in the next voting on the constitution amendment coming up in four weeks.

He said, “Last week, the house voted on the constitution amendment. There are issues arising therefrom and the house in its wisdom has decided to take a cause of action for the good of the country and that action is to rescind three of the decisions that were taken that day and after the rescission we will list them on the next set of amendment coming up.

“If we still at that point have a difference with the Senate, we will go for harmonisation. Now harmonisation may not be the practice when it comes to constitution amendment because I have heard people argued here and there.

“But the constitution I believe under section 5 allows the house to regulate its own procedure and we will be relying on the provision of the constitution to harmonise the differences between us (house) and the senate and hopefully this will go through.

Federal lawmakers, during the consideration of the clauses of the constitution amendment bills on March 1, voted against the gender bills, including a a bill seeking to provide special seats for women in the national and state houses of assembly.

Scores of aggrieved women had staged a protest at the National Assembly against the rejection of bills seeking gender equality in Nigeria.

The lower legislative chamber rescinded its decision on the bills after Hassan Fulata, chairman house committee on business and rules, moved the motion.

He said, “Honourable members recall that on the first of March we voted for constitution amendment on 68 bills.

“However, three (gender) bills could not scale through because we could not obtain the two-third majority to pass the bills. Accordingly, in line with our extant rules, I move that we suspend our extant rules to rescind our decision in respect of these three bills and recommit to the committee of the whole for reconsideration.”