8th NASS Leadership And Affirmative Action

JONATHAN NDA- ISAIAH, in this piece, examines the clamour for women to be elected into leadership positions in the 8th National Assembly 

For the very first time in the country’s history, an incumbent president was defeated in an election. Of course, it goes without saying that Nigerians have commended the president and commander-in-chief, Dr Goodluck Jonathan, for the display of statesmanship by accepting defeat before the final announcement of the results of the presidential elections of March 28th, 2015.

According to a political analyst, John Danfulani, the All Progressives Congress (APC), which is producing the next government under President-elect Muhammadu Buhari, has to fashion an unparalleled programme for approximately 170 million people eagerly waiting to be involved – for change!

For this 170 million Nigerians, the change has to be realistic and it will be gradual. Accountability, transparency, representation and corrupt-free government have to form the hallmark of the Buhari administration.

As the party swept seats in the National Assembly, the APC now boasts of a total of 214 APC lawmakers to the 125 of the PDP in the House of Representatives, while in the Senate, it is 60 APC senators to 49 of the PDP.

As the party is set to take over on May 29, only a few days away, it is facing a real test over leadership positions in the National Assembly, though Buhari last week revealed that he has no anointed candidates for all the leadership positions in the National Assembly.

The Senate, in particular, has been generating the most controversy, and understandably so, given that there will be a new Senate president and deputy Senate president for the first time since 2007.

Political pundits say this presents a singular opportunity for the incoming ruling party, the APC, to show Nigerians that it could be a party for the people; devoid of gender, religious and ethnic segregation, by involving women in political leadership, including that of the legislature.

This particular issue, as is widely known, is one that has been on the front burner of national politics for years since the advent of democracy in Nigeria.

The clamour for this representation led the present administration to introduce the 35% affirmative action to involve women in 35% cabinet positions. Although this was not achieved in entirety, it has inevitably set the tone for future administrations to give priority to the issue of under-representation in governance.

Affirmative action was initiated in the 1960s to counter historical patterns unduly imposed on ethnic minorities, women and other under-represented groups. In order to foster diversity and compensate for the way minority groups have been historically excluded in national affairs, it has become incumbent upon the incoming APC government, as encapsulated in their manifesto, to prioritise the inclusion of such groups in appointments into sensitive positions such as the leadership of the National Assembly.

LEADERSHIP checks reveal that there have been only 23 female legislators out of the 469 in the National Assembly since 1999. This figure (23) represents only 5% of the legislators since the return of civilian rule, and although this is an abysmal figure, none of these women ever occupied the position of the president of the Senate or its deputy. Only the House of Representatives has produced a short-lived female speaker and a majority leader.

According to some women groups, “Gone are the days when women should be comfortable with the position of chairperson of committee on Women Affairs only. The potentials and aspiration of women in national affairs have to be nurtured, fostered and encouraged to greater heights, as that is the only way to ensure full and realistic representation and inclusion in governance.”

As the date for the elections into leadership positions in the 8th Senate draws closer, the inclination of the APC, its legislators and the country at large, should be towards electing the personalities of the president of the Senate and its deputy that will be all-encompassing and representational across borders in line with set standards and the affirmative action of the United Nations which Nigeria is a signatory to.

There are eight female senators in the incoming 8th Assembly, three out of whom are of the ruling APC namely Sen Oluremi Tinubu (Lagos Central), Sen-elect Monsurat Sunmonu (Oyo Central) and Sen-elect Binta Masi Garba (Adamawa North).

Of these three senators, Hon. Binta Masi Garba, by virtue of being the only female senator from all the 19 northern states, most ranking female legislator, having spent three previous terms in the House of Representatives and been versatile in legislative processes and parliamentary administrative governance, is the most qualified for the position of either president or deputy president of the Senate.

Garba, who will be representing Adamawa North of Adamawa State in the North East of Nigeria, was and still is the APC chairman in the state that delivered massive votes in the recently concluded presidential, National Assembly, gubernatorial and State Houses of Assembly elections respectively.

Before then, she was a three time member of the House of Representatives from 1999-2011 and the first politician to represent two different federal constituencies in the National Assembly. She was the first parliamentarian to start poverty alleviation programme (constituency outreach) for women and youths in 2003 when she was representing Kaduna South federal constituency.

In 2009, she was elected as the first vice president of Commonwealth Women Parliamentarians, African Region (CWP-A) in Cameroon. She is currently the only female senator-elect from all the 19 northern states of the federation.

Of course, the resumes of some of the male contenders are equally outstanding in the likes of Sen. Bukola Saraki, who is former governor of Kwara State and former chairman of Nigeria Governors Forum; Sen. George Akume, former governor of Benue State and current Senate minority leader and Senator Ahmad Lawan, who has been in the National Assembly since 1999. But as much as their qualifications are not in doubt, their ambitions aren’t without attendant controversies. Whatever the case may be, political analysts say it is time for Nigerians to come together as a cohesive unit to start practising a representative democracy and not just talking about it.

The plight of the almost 100 million women in Nigeria should not be represented by only 7% of the composition of the upper chamber (8th Assembly female senators) and in the event that that is the case, they ultimately have to be afforded a stronger position (of the deputy or the president) to make their case. It is about time Nigerians heeded to the cry of women for an all inclusive administration, starting with the National Assembly.