Nigerian women celebrated on Wednesday the anniversary of their triumph over 35% affirmative action, which was upheld by a court on April 6, 2022. This was stated in a declaration that the Nigerian Women Trust Fund and eight other plaintiffs signed, as captioned by the Entrepreneurng report.
The Federal High Court in Abuja held the case’s initial hearing on December 2, 2020, and 16 months later, on April 6, 2022, the hope of Nigerian women and the following generation of girls was rekindled. The historic decision upheld and required the execution of the National Gender Policy (2006)’s rules on 35% affirmative action in appointment-related posts.
The constitutional requirement to take into account gender in all appointive positions was also upheld by the court, along with the equality of the sexes. It effectively means that, by democratic ideals, Nigerian women are now automatically granted 35% affirmative action.
The Federal Ministry of Justice Abuja, in contrast to the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (ret. ), accepting the verdict through the Minister of the Federal Ministry of Women Affairs at the global press conference on April 14, 2022, at Treasure Suites Abuja, appealed the case in July 2022, according to the NWTF.
The women urged that they be allowed to benefit from democracy as equal Nigerian citizens.
Additionally, they urged that Bola Tinubu, the president-elect, implement the court’s ruling in all appointment-related posts within his cabinet.
Part of the statement read: Hence, we urge that the Ministry of Justice drop its appeal so that Nigerian women may benefit from democracy on an equal basis with other Nigerian citizens. We take this occasion to urge the departing Nigerian administration to uphold the law and carry out the judge’s requirements for implementation.
We further demand that Bola Ahmed Tinubu, the president-elect, immediately fill all open slots in his cabinet by the court’s ruling. We demand that he create a structure for the enforcement of this historic decision and that all parastatals, agencies, and ministerial appointees comply with the National Gender Policy going forward.
Conclusion
It was additionally demanded that the 10th Assembly pass all gender-related laws that were previously before the 9th Assembly to recognize that Nigerian women are legitimately equal citizens in Nigeria and that their rights should be respected.
The ladies further stated that they will not stop fighting for inclusivity in Nigeria at the national, state, and local government levels, especially in light of the underrepresentation of women in the results of the recently held general elections in 2023.
Source: Punch
