Women under various groups on Thursday continued their protest at the National Assembly gate.
For the fifth day, the women gathered early morning at the National Assembly demanding that lawmakers rescind their decision over rejection of five gender bills in the process of amendment of 1999 constitution.
The protest by the women drawn from various groups started on Wednesday, March 2, and members of the House of Representatives in reaction to their demands, on Tuesday, March 8, rescinded their decision on three of the gender bills.
The women, however, continued the protest demanding the members of the Senate join their House of Representatives in re-visiting the bills.
They also want approval for all the five gender bills.
Among other demands, the women want specific seats in the National Assembly, indigeneship of their husband’s state after five years of being together, and 35% affirmative action for women.
They insist that they will continue to picket the gate of the National Assembly till all their demands are met. They also threatened to vote out the lawmakers who voted against women in the constitutional review.
They demand that the voting pattern for those bills be released to them so they can mobilse women at all levels of government to vote out the lawmakers who they say took a stand against Nigerian women at the constitutional review.
The groups gathered for the protest include the United Nations Population Fund (UNPF), Federation of Muslim Women Association (FOMWA), Women Organisation for Change in Agriculture and Natural Resource Management (WOCAN), Association of Women in the Arts (AWITA), Women In Business (WIMBIZ), Action Aid, Yiaga Africa, the Islamic Youth League, among others.(Channels TV)
*PHOTO: Nigerian women display a banner at the gate of the National Assembly
