ABUJA, Nigeria — Nigeria’s minister of women affairs, Imaan Sulaiman-Ibrahim, has described the proposed reserved seats bill for women in the country’s legislatures as a “weak negotiation”, arguing that it falls short of what is required to achieve meaningful political inclusion for women.
Sulaiman-Ibrahim made the remarks on Tuesday, December 9, 2025, in Abuja at the Beijing+30 women’s summit, an event convened by the Amandla Institute for Policy and Leadership Advancement in partnership with the African Women Leaders Network, Nigeria chapter, and Womanifesto.
The reserved seats bill seeks to create special legislative seats exclusively for women at both national and state levels.
The proposal includes 37 additional seats for women in the House of Representatives, one for each state and the Federal Capital Territory, and 37 additional seats in the Senate under the same arrangement.
At the state level, the bill proposes three additional seats for women in each state house of assembly, one for each senatorial district.
Under the proposal, the additional seats would not prevent women from contesting existing constituencies, allowing female politicians to seek election both through the reserved positions and the regular electoral process.
Lawmakers introduced the bill amid sustained criticism of Nigeria’s poor global ranking on women’s political representation, despite women accounting for nearly half of the country’s population.
Nigeria currently has one of the lowest proportions of women in elective office worldwide.
While welcoming the intent behind the bill, Sulaiman-Ibrahim said it did not go far enough and risked entrenching a culture of lowered expectations.
“I’m a great advocate for the special reserve seat bill, but I am not a fan of it, and I’m not afraid to say that, because I believe that the bill even puts us at a disadvantage as women,” she said.
“I believe that we can go for more and get more. So why are we negotiating for less, and why do we keep watering it down?”
She rejected the argument that gradual progress was the best approach to women’s political empowerment.
“Some people say, ‘Let’s start from somewhere.’ No. The countries that have really gotten there didn’t start from somewhere; they went all out. What are we afraid of?
“We are the voters. According to a saying, ‘half of the world are women; the other half were given birth to by women.’ And we all know that without women there won’t be any election or election victory. We all know it. So why are we shortchanging ourselves?”
Sulaiman-Ibrahim also outlined structural barriers that continue to limit women’s access to political power, noting that men often benefit from entrenched political networks, early strategic planning and superior access to funding.
Pointing to what she described as flawed bargaining around the bill, she added, “We’re negotiating for seats without a seat on the neck, so even the negotiations are faulty.”
Despite her reservations, the minister said she still hoped the bill would pass, stressing the reputational cost Nigeria pays on the international stage.
“I am praying for this reserved seat bill to scale through because every time I go for international meetings, I’m a subject of ridicule. They are like, ‘What’s happening in Nigeria?’ Because we are the lowest when it comes to elective offices.
“So, I’ll wait for that to change during my time so that at least I can have my shoulders high, but does it address our problems?”
At the same summit, Erelu Adeleye-Fayemi, co-founder of the Amandla Institute for Policy and Leadership Advancement, said Nigeria’s persistent low ranking on global gender equality indices remains a major obstacle to women’s advancement.
The former first lady of Ekiti State said the institute would continue to mobilise awareness around women’s rights and gender equality, with a focus on promoting gender justice and strengthening feminist leadership development.
The reserved seats bill is still undergoing legislative consideration.
