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Summary:
President Bola Tinubu is set to present executive bills seeking special seats for women and Persons with Disabilities (PWD) in the federal and state legislatures to the National Assembly. The proposed special bill for women seeks to create additional reserved seats exclusively for women without removing existing legislative constituencies
President Bola Tinubu is set to present executive bills seeking special seats for women and Persons with Disabilities (PWD) in the federal and state legislatures to the National Assembly. This information was disclosed by the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Tajudeen Abbas, on Thursday, September 24, 2026.
According to the Speaker, the proposed special bill for women seeks to create additional reserved seats exclusively for women without removing existing legislative constituencies. Under this bill, 37 new seats would be created in both the Senate and House of Representatives, with one seat for each state and the Federal Capital Territory. Each of the state Houses of Assembly would have three additional seats reserved for women, one for each senatorial district. The bill is expected to operate for four general election cycles before a review.
Similarly, a separate bill titled HB 1931, also seeks to create special seats for physically challenged persons in the National Assembly, state Houses of Assembly and local government legislative councils. The proposal provides for one additional PWD member from each of the six geopolitical zones in both the Senate and House.
In Nigeria, the low representation of women is a severe democratic deficit that systematically marginalises the country’s leadership structures. Since Nigeria’s return to democracy in 1999, women have roughly held a meager 5.36% of all National Assembly seats. In the current 10th National Assembly, only 19 are women; 4 in the Senate, and 16 in the House of Representatives.
The proposed legislation for women has been sent to the Ministry of Justice for legal vetting while the executive bill for PWDs is expected to be transmitted within weeks.
