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Saturday, June 28, 2008

Reform for Nigerian Women

Posted on allAfrica.com from Daily Trust:

"A women's group, Gender Electoral and Constitution Memoranda Committee will today present a memoranda to the Justice Muhammadu Lawal Uwais led electoral reform committee which will start public hearing in Abuja today.

Ms. Beni Lar, chairman House Committee on Women Affairs who spoke to journalists in Abuja at a meeting on validation of the memorandum, said a women rally will take off today from the Protea hotel at Asokoro to the International Conference Centre.

While reading the memorandum, Maryam Uwais said that the committee recommended the amendment of the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 and the Electoral Act 2006 in order to make it gender sensitive in language, structure and content.

It also recommended that a new subsection should be inserted to section 15 (2) to provide a 35% affirmative action for women that will address historical imbalances and injustices against women. This would include adopting the quota system in appointive positions.

Other recommendations made by the committee include the replacement of the provision for the Federal Character Commission with an Equal Opportunity Commission so that beside geography and ethnicity, gender and disability are reflected in representation, to insert in section 154 that a person shall be either a retired Chief Justice of the Federation or Chief Judge of a State to be qualified for the post of INEC Chairman and a public hearing shall be conducted before confirmation of the appointment."

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