National Assembly (Nigeria)

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National Assembly of Nigeria
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National Assembly of the Federal Republic of Nigeria
Bicameral
HousesSenate
House of Representatives
History
Preceded byFederal Parliament
New session started
13 June 2023
Leadership
Godswill Akpabio (APC)
since 13 June 2023
Barau Jibrin (APC)
since 13 June 2023
Senate Majority Leader
Michael Opeyemi Bamidele (APC)
since 4 July 2023
Tajudeen Abbas (APC)
since 13 June 2023
Benjamin Kalu (APC)
since 13 June 2023
House Majority Leader
Julius Ihonvbere (APC)
since 4 July 2023
Structure
Seats469
109 Senators
360 Representatives
Current Structure of the Nigerian Senate
Senate political groups
  Labour Party: 7 seats
Current Structure of the Nigerian House of Representatives
House of Representatives political groups
  Labour Party: 35 seats
  Vacant: 2 seat
Elections
First-past-the-post
First-past-the-post
Last Senate election
25 February 2023
25 February 2023
Next Senate election
27 February 2027
27 February 2027
Meeting place
National Assembly Complex
Abuja, FCT, Nigeria
Website
www.nass.gov.ng

The National Assembly of the Federal Republic of Nigeria is a bicameral legislature established under section 4 of the Nigerian Constitution. It consists of a Senate with 109 members[1] and a 360-member[2] House of Representatives. The body, modeled after the federal Congress of the United States, is supposed to guarantee equal representation with 3 senators to each 36 states irrespective of size in the Senate plus 1 senator representing the Federal Capital Territory and single-member district, plurality voting in the House of Representatives. The National Assembly, like many other organs of the Nigerian federal government is based in Abuja in the Federal Capital Territory.

Leadership

The Senate is chaired by the

speaker of the House of Representatives. At any joint session of the Assembly, the president of the Senate presides and in their absence the speaker of the House presides.[3]

OFFICE NAME TERM
President of the Senate
Godswill Akpabio 13 June 2023–present
Speaker of the House of Representatives
Tajudeen Abbas 13 June 2023–present

Functions

The Assembly has broad oversight functions and is empowered to establish committees of its members to scrutinise

bills and the conduct of government officials. Since the restoration of democratic rule in 1999, the Assembly has been said to be in a "learning process" that has witnessed the election and removal of several presidents of the Senate, allegations of corruption
, slow passage of private member's bills and the creation of ineffective committees to satisfy numerous interests.

In spite of a more than two-thirds majority control of the Assembly by the then ruling

executive, it is still viewed generally in a negative light by the media and many of the Nigerian people.[4]
The Assembly sits for a period of at most four years, after which time the president is required to dissolve it and call a new Assembly into session.

The Senate has the unique power to impeach

diplomats, members of the federal cabinet, federal judicial
appointments, and independent federal commissions.

Before any bill may become law, it must be agreed to by both the House and the Senate, and receive the president's assent. Should the president delay or refuse assent (veto) the bill, the Assembly may pass the law by two-thirds of both chambers and overrule the veto and the president's consent will not be required.

Support

The

US Congress by Congressional Research Service, Congressional Budget Office, and Library of Congress, only on a lesser scale as the institute was just established.[7]
The institute has been renamed the National Institute for Legislative and Democratic Studies, following the amendment to the act establishing it.

National Assembly State Delegations

Women in the National Assembly

Currently, there are a total of 21 women serving in the National Assembly, 8 in the Senate

governor of Anambra State for three months after the previous governor was impeached for alleged gross misconduct.[10]

In Nigeria, men and women have an equal right to participate in public office, which is guaranteed to them by the constitution. Section 40 of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria bestows upon Nigerian citizens the right to belong to any political party, trade union or any other association for the protection of his interests. Many initiatives have been taken by the Nigerian government to promote the participation of women in politics and public service. In the 2000 National Policy on Women, the Nigerian government pledged to ensure that women participate in politics equally to men, implementing an affirmative action quota of 30% increase in participation. In the 2003 elections, some parties waived nomination fees for women in order to lower the barriers to participation.[10]  There are many civil society groups that focus on the interests of women who want to participate in politics. The Forum of Nigerian Women in Politics is an influential group that operates with the goal of empowering women. They have requested that the Nigerian government yield 30% female representation in government appointments.[11]

Women in Nigeria face many barriers to political participation. These include cultural practices, threat of intimidation or violence, high cost of election, inadequacy of willing and educated women, and issues regarding indigeneity. Women who are married outside their constituencies of birth but run for election in the constituencies of their marriage are often marked as non-indigene by the community.[12]

Women face multiple obstacles that limit them in their political participation, and this has an effect on the amount of women who are represented in government. These obstacles are related to the high cost of politics, which prevents women for standing for positions, as some women are not able to afford the mandatory expression of interest and nomination forms.[13] These forms are required by political parties to run for positions on their platforms in addition to the campaign costs.[13] Women are disproportionately affected by this because there is inadequate access to education for women compared to their male counterparts and poor access to education translates to poor access to gainful employment, unpaid labor, unequal access to inheritance rights, and discrimination - all obstacles that limit the participation of women in politics.[13]

Mercy Ette argues that there has been less participation of women in politics as a result of the influence of the media. She argues that the media has reinforced a patriarchy in politics and has downplayed the participation of women in politics.[14] The failure of political parties to choose women as strong candidates has also contributed greatly to lack of effective participation of women in politics. These women are often given subordinate positions where they are able to change little to nothing or affect decisions in the political society.[15] Despite the challenges faced by women in Nigerian politics, there has been an increasing number of female participation in politics over the years. In 1999 3 women were elected to the senate and 12 to the House of Representatives after two rounds of elections. Later the number of women in senate has gone up to 8 in 2007, but this number later dropped in 2011.[16] The overall national average for women participation is around 6% for elective and appointive positions which is below the West African sub regional average of 15%. Nigeria ranks the 32nd out of the 35 sub Saharan countries when it comes to representation of women in politics. The upcoming 2023 elections is facing similar criticisms, as there are just 6 female aspirants who have joined the presidential race to succeed Muhammadu Buhari.[17]

Gallery

  • Nigeria's National Assembly Building
    Nigeria's National Assembly Building
  • Nigeria Senate Building (Red Chamber)
    Nigeria Senate Building (Red Chamber)
  • Nigeria's National Assembly Building with the Mace
    Nigeria's National Assembly Building with the Mace
  • National Assembly Complex
    National Assembly Complex

See also

References

  1. ^ "About The Senate". National Assembly (Nigeria). Archived from the original on 30 August 2018. Retrieved 5 September 2018.
  2. ^ "About The House". National Assembly (Nigeria). Archived from the original on 28 July 2018. Retrieved 5 September 2018.
  3. S2CID 158523324
  4. ^ Odeyemi, Temitayo (11 October 2023). "Nigerian legislatures need to repair their poor relationship with the people". Africa at LSE blog. Retrieved 11 October 2023.
  5. ^ ICT, NILS. "National Institute for Legislative Studies". nils.gov.ng.
  6. ^ Assembly, Nigerian National. "National Assembly - Federal Republic of Nigeria". nassnig.org.
  7. ^ "The Nation Newspaper Nigeria - Read Latest Nigeria News". The Nation. Nigeria.
  8. ^ a b "Data on women in national parliament". Parline: the IPU’s Open Data Platform. Retrieved 12 May 2022.
  9. ^ "House of Representatives Member | Honourable Patricia Etteh". 12 October 2007. Archived from the original on 12 October 2007. Retrieved 12 May 2022.
  10. ^ .
  11. .
  12. ^ Arowolo, Dare; Aluko, F.S. (1 June 2010). "Women and political participation in Nigeria". 14: 581–593. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  13. ^ a b c Agbalajobi, Damilola (3 May 2021). "Nigeria has few women in politics: here's why, and what to do about it". The Conversation. Retrieved 12 May 2022.
  14. S2CID 149339769
    .
  15. .
  16. .
  17. ^ "2023 PRESIDENCY: Where are the women?". Vanguard News. 16 April 2022. Retrieved 12 May 2022.
  18. ^ Akinola, Wale (20 June 2021). "Meet 19 female lawmakers out of 469 members of ninth National Assembly". Legit.ng - Nigeria news. Retrieved 12 May 2022.

External links