The wife of Nigerian President, Senator Oluremi Tinubu and other women leaders have renewed calls affirmative 35 percent of women representation in governance and democratic positions across the African sub region.
They spoke at the Economic Community of Female Paliamentarian (ECOFEPA) Forum and Celebration of the 25th Anniversary of the ECOWAS Parliament as parts of activities at the ongoing 2025 Second Ordinary Session of the Parliament in Abuja on Tuesday.
Panel discussions during the event examined “Strengthening Governance Towards the Realisation of ECOWAS Vision 2050” and the “Impact of Gender Parity Laws and Allocation of Reserved Seats.”
Senator Oluremi Tinubu who was represented by the wife of the Deputy Senate President, Hajiya Laila Barau, at the opening of the ECOFEPA Forum, with the theme: “Advancing Women’s Proportional Representation in Governance” expressed reservation on how women despite their population are being relegated to the background in governance and political landscape.
“Unfairly underrepresented despite constituting more than half of the population across ECOWAS states,” she said even as she spoke about the determination of the current administration to support women.
The First Lady hailed the National Assembly for the current number of women representation, saying that the time to further give more voice to women.
“the time for action is now if the region must build an equitable society.”
Also speaking, the Minister of Women Affairs, Hajiya Imaan Sulaiman-Ibrahim, who was represented by the Director-General of the National Centre for Women Development, Dr. Asabe Vilita Bashir, commented ECOFEPAL for its sustained advocacy for increased women occupying leadership positions and in governance in the West Africa sub region.
She assured of her ministry’s commitment to support programmes that enhance and support women’s political participation, economic empowerment and leadership across the West Africa sub region.
Earlier, the President of the ECOWAS Female Parliamentarians Association (ECOFEPA), Hon. Veronica Kadie Sesay, commended Senator Oluremi Tinubu for supporting programmes that elevate women.
According to her, the forum is an important platform for strengthening advocacy for proportional representation across West Africa.
“ECOFEPA-ACTION! ECOWAS WOMEN—ACTION NOW!”
She specially thanked past and present ECOFEPA members, founding leaders and Nigerian female parliamentarian for their contributions in strengthening the association’s regional impact for the advancement of women.
According to her, ECOFEPA now recognises all female parliamentarians at state and national levels as full members, as parts of efforts to enhance it’s reach across the region.
The ECOFEPA President noted that most ECOWAS countries fall below the 35% benchmark for women’s representation in governance.
For instance, she highlighted that while Senegal records over 42% female lawmakers due to strong quota laws, Nigeria remains at 6%, calling on member states to adopt proportional representation and reserved seats to reverse the current marginalisation.
On her part, the Deputy Speaker of the Ekiti State House of Assembly and Chairperson of the Conference of Nigerian Female Parliamentarians (CONFEPA), Rt. Hon. Bolaji Olagbaju, emphasised that gender balance is “a fundamental democratic right,” commending ECOWAS leadership for sustaining conversations on inclusive governance.