The National Assembly has proposed the creation of 74 additional legislative seats for women in the Senate and House of Representatives as part of efforts to address the low representation of women in Nigeria’s political system.
The proposal also includes three additional seats reserved for women in each of the 36 state Houses of Assembly.
The Senate Leader, Opeyemi Bamidele, disclosed this on Monday during the 2026 Law Week organised by the International Federation of Women Lawyers, Ekiti State Chapter.
Bamidele, who is also the Vice Chairman of the Senate Committee on the Review of the 1999 Constitution, said the proposal was part of the ongoing constitutional amendment process.
According to him, the proposed arrangement would create additional seats for women without displacing existing elected representatives.
He explained that 37 seats would be added to the Senate and another 37 to the House of Representatives, giving each state of the federation and the Federal Capital Territory one additional seat in both chambers.
Bamidele said, “A Bill for an Act to alter the provisions of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 to provide for special seats for women in the National and State Houses of Assembly and for related matters is receiving our attention at the National Assembly.”
He described the proposal as the outcome of extensive consultations and consensus-building among stakeholders involved in the constitutional review exercise.
The Senate Leader said the National Assembly had started the amendment process early to ensure that the exercise was comprehensive, inclusive and properly considered.
He further disclosed that the constitution review committee had proposed three additional seats for women in each state House of Assembly.
The arrangement, if approved, would provide 108 additional seats across the 36 state legislatures, with one seat representing each senatorial district.
Bamidele said the proposed special seats would remain in place for 16 years, covering four electoral cycles, before a comprehensive review.
He explained that the 16-year period was designed as a sunset clause to allow the country assess the impact of the arrangement and encourage greater participation of women in politics.
The proposal comes amid continued concerns over the limited number of women occupying elective political positions in Nigeria.
In September, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Tajudeen Abbas, disclosed that the proposed reserved seats legislation for women had been taken to the Ministry of Justice for further consideration.
The initiative is intended to create additional opportunities for women to participate in lawmaking at both federal and state levels.
However, the latest proposal is still part of the constitutional amendment process and must complete the required legislative and state-level approval stages before it can become law.
The National Assembly’s proposal is therefore not yet an established change to the composition of Nigeria’s legislative institutions.
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