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On June 11, 2026, the Nigerian House of Representatives stepped down the scheduled floor vote on the Reserved Seats for Women Bill (HB 1349) following rancour on the floor of the chamber. The delay is the latest in a series of postponements on a bill that has been pending a final vote since 2024.
The House had scheduled a vote on HB 1349 as part of its consideration of constitutional alteration bills. Disagreements broke out among lawmakers during plenary, causing the vote to be stepped down. The same session saw the State Police Bill successfully considered and passed.
Reacting to the development, Nanchin Lawrence, Programme Lead at TOS Foundation Africa, a non-profit organisation campaigning for the bill, said,
“While this development means we must exercise further patience, our trajectory remains clear. We will continue to engage key legislative stakeholders, monitor developments closely, and strategically prepare for the next floor session.”
HB 1349, sponsored by Deputy Speaker Benjamin Kalu and 12 other lawmakers, proposes constitutional amendments to create one additional seat exclusively for women for each state and the FCT in both the Senate and the House of Representatives, totalling 74 seats, alongside three women-only seats per state across all 36 State Houses of Assembly.
Currently, only four women serve in the Senate and 16 in the House of Representatives, within a 469-member National Assembly.
