Abuja – The International Federation of Women Lawyers (FIDA) Nigeria has warned that women’s underrepresentation is weakening the country’s legislature and slowing national development.
At the 2025 FIDA Law Week, Mrs. Chioma Onyenucheya-Uko, FIDA Abuja Chairperson, said women occupy just 3.62% of federal legislative seats, calling this “alarming and unacceptable.” She urged the adoption of reserved seats for women, describing it as a structural correction, not a handout.
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“Excluding women is not tradition; it is a choice. A legislature without women is like a choir missing half its voices,” Onyenucheya-Uko said.
Mrs. Wendy Kuku (SAN), Chair of the Law Week Committee, added that countries like Rwanda, Chile, and New Zealand show that women’s leadership strengthens democracies and accelerates development.
FIDA is calling on political actors, civil society, and male allies to push for meaningful reforms that make women’s voices ordinary, not exceptional, in Nigeria’s Legislature.