National assembly considering constitutional amendment to create 74 additional seats for women

Tuesday, November 3, 2026 -Senate Leader Opeyemi Bamidele has said the National Assembly is considering a constitutional amendment to create 74 additional legislative seats reserved exclusively for women.

The proposal would establish 37 seats in the Senate and 37 in the House of Representatives, providing one additional women-only seat in each chamber for every state and the Federal Capital Territory.

Bamidele said the constitution review committee had also proposed three additional seats for women in each state house of assembly. He stressed that the reserved positions would be added to the existing seats rather than replace them. Bamidele spoke on Monday, November 2, at the 2026 Law Week organised by the Ekiti State chapter of the International Federation of Women Lawyers.

The event, chaired by Ayobami Olowoyo-Richards, had the theme, “Justice in a Changing World: Responding to New Challenges Affecting Women and Children”. The Senate leader, who is vice-chairman of the Senate Committee on the Review of the 1999 Constitution, said the measure was intended to expand women’s participation in politics and governance.

“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 said. Bamidele explained that the proposed arrangement would operate for 16 years, covering four electoral cycles, before undergoing a comprehensive review.

“This arrangement is proposed to run for a period of 16 years, four electoral cycles, before a comprehensive review. This is a sunset clause designed to ensure sustainability and to allow for the organic development of a more inclusive political culture,” he said.

He added that the National Assembly was engaging state legislatures to secure the approval required for the constitutional amendment to take effect. Bamidele described the proposal as a national reform rather than a partisan initiative, arguing that women’s exclusion from decision-making weakened representative democracy.

“A democracy that systematically excludes over half of its population from the decision-making tables that determine their futures is, at best, a flawed democracy and, at worst, a veiled oligarchy,” he said. He said advocacy by prominent government figures, including First Lady Oluremi Tinubu, had strengthened the 10th National Assembly’s commitment to the initiative.

The Senate leader also said lawmakers were considering measures to support women, children and persons with disabilities through improved access to healthcare, education and social protection programmes. The reserved-seat proposal remains under consideration as part of the ongoing review of the 1999 Constitution.