A look at the Senate’s women

Twenty-five months into the life of the Eighth Senate, Daily Trust takes a look on how female senators have fared in a male-dominated parliament.  At the inauguration of the eighth National Assembly, women accounted for eight out of the 108 senators that were sworn in, as the seat for the Borno Central Senatorial District was […]

Twenty-five months into the life of the Eighth Senate, Daily Trust takes a look on how female senators have fared in a male-dominated parliament. 

At the inauguration of the eighth National Assembly, women accounted for eight out of the 108 senators that were sworn in, as the seat for the Borno Central Senatorial District was vacant at that time. 

The eight female senators represent 8.6 per cent of the entire senators, an indication that the red chamber is dominated by men. 

The female senators at the inauguration of the Senate are: Senator Binta Masi Garba (APC, Adamawa); Senator Uche Ekwunife (PDP, Anambra); Senator Stella Oduah (PDP, Anambra); Senator Rose Okoji Oko (PDP, Cross River); Senator Fatima Raji-Razaki (PDP, Ekiti); Senator Biodun Olujimi (PDP, Ekiti); Senator Oluremi Tinubu (APC, Lagos) and Senator Monsurat Sunmonu (APC, Oyo). 

While three of the female lawmakers are of the All Progressives Congress (APC), five are of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). The female lawmakers however lost a seat six months (December 2015) into the life of this dispensation when Senator Uche Ekwunife was sent home by the Appeal Court. 

Eighteen months after her sack, the seat for the Anambra Central senatorial district at the Senate is still vacant. Ekwunife chaired one of the juiciest standing committees – Petroleum (Downstream), before her sack. 

With Ekwunife’s exit, the rank of the female lawmakers depleted. They now occupy seven out of the 109 seats at the upper legislative chamber. 

In the area of geopolitical zone, South-West has the highest female Senators with four, South-East 1, South-South 1 and North-East 1. North-West and North-Central have none. 

Out of the 10 principal officers in Senate, the female senators managed to get one. Senator Olujimi, who was a former deputy governor of Ekiti State, is the Deputy Minority Whip.  

A review of committees revealed that the female senators chair five out of the 68 standing Committees of the Senate. The duo of Olujimi and Oduah are Vice Chairpersons. Tinubu chairs the committee on Environment, Oko (Diaspora and NGOs), Sunmonu (Foreign Affairs), Garba (Women Affairs) and Raji-Rasaki (Trade and Investment).

Out of the 549 bills currently being considered at the Senate, the seven female lawmakers sponsored 39, representing 7.1 percent.  An analysis of the bills showed that Oduah has the highest bills with 12; Olujimi, 11; Oko, 6; Tinubu, 4; Sunmonu, 3; Raji-Rasaki 2 while Garba has one to her credit.

 In addition to the sponsorship of bills, the female lawmakers like their male counterparts have motions to their credit, participated in committee meetings and oversights.

 

Olujimi, Deputy Minority whip

Born in 1958, Olujimi was first elected into the House of Representatives in 2003 and later became the deputy governor to Ayo Fayose in his first tenure. An ardent promoter of gender equality, she’s been married to Chief Ariyo Olujimi for over three decades. Her bill on gender equality was rejected last year. Out of her 11 bills, one has been passed, one rejected and nine are in various stages of consideration.

 

Tinubu, from Women Affairs to Environment

She is the wife of the leader of the APC, Senator Bola Ahmed Tinubu. The second timer at Red Chamber first chaired the Senate Committee on Women Affairs before she was moved to chair the environment committee.

Tinubu, who was a key player in the now defunct Senate Unity Forum, has to her credit four bills. While three of them are in various stages of consideration, her bill on economic assistance that seeks to give special grant to Lagos State was rejected.

  

Garba chairs women Affairs 

Born in 1967, Garba is not a push over in the National Assembly. She was first elected to the House of Representatives in 1999 to represent Kaduna South Federal Constituency. After two terms, she returned to her home state of Adamawa where she represented Madagali/Michika for a term (2007-11). 

The first chairman of APC in Adamawa State, she was elected to the Senate in 2015 and first made the chairman of the Senate Committee on Tertiary Institutions and TETFUND but was redeployed to Women Affairs last year. She has a bill to her credit. 

 

Sunmonu chairs Foreign Affairs 

Sunmonu, a former Speaker of the Oyo State House of Assembly, was born in 1959. She chairs the Senate Committee on Foreign Affairs and has three bills to her credit. While two of her bills are in first reading, one is at committee stage. 

Sunmonu, who worked with UK border agency for 20 years, has screened many ambassadorial nominees. 

 

Oduah, Vice chairman Police Affairs 

Born in 1962, Oduah who was Aviation Minister during President Goodluck Jonathan’s administration is the Vice Chairman of Senate Committee on Police Affairs.

She is the only female Senator who is not chairing a committee since Olujimi, as a principal officer, cannot chair a committee in line with the rules of the Senate. 

 

Raji-Rasaki chairs Trade and Investment 

Married to retired Brigadier General Raji-Rasaki, a former military administrator of Lagos State, Senator Fatima Raji-Rasaki chairs the Senate Commitee on Trade and Investment. She has two bills to her credit. 

 

Oko chairs Senate Committee on Diaspora 

Oko (60) was in the House of Representatives between 2011 and 2015 before stepping up to the Upper legislative chamber.  She has six bills to her credit. 

 

FGAI scores female Senators low 

Speaking on the female lawmakers, the Executive Director of Friends in the Gap Advocacy Initiative (FGAI), Elder George Oji, said it was sad that out of the seven female senators, only Senator Tinubu survived the 7th Senate. Tinubu is a second timer at the Upper legislative chamber.

“What this means in terms of real representation is that Nigerian women have continued to lose their voices in the Senate. This is because the new senators would need to go through long learning legislative processes before finding their feet in parliament. Unfortunately also, there is concern that the quality of representation by the current senators appear not to measure up to those of the 7th Senate.

“For instance, in the 7th Senate, there were some very vibrant and vocal senators like Nkechi Nwogu (Abia North), Chris Anyanwu (Imo East), Esther Nenadi Usman (Kaduna South), Helen Esuene (A/Ibom South), Margaret Okadigbo (Anambra North), Aisha Jummai Al-Hassan (Taraba North) and Zaynab Abdulkadir Kure (Niger South) who ensured that when it came to issues of women and children rights, they spoke with one voice.

“Unfortunately, same cannot be said of the current female senators who are more or less enmeshed in the larger politics of the leadership of the Senate.   Another very disturbing trend regarding women representation in the Senate is that women from the northern parts of the country have not fared very well as compared to their counterparts from the South. For instance, out of the seven female senators currently in the Senate, only one, Senator Binta Masi Garba (Adamawa North), comes from the North. The rest are from the South,” he said.

Comparing the situation in Nigeria with other African countries, Oji said with regards to women participation in parliament, Nigeria is a paradox.

“For instance, a country like Rwanda has continued to maintain the lead in gender participation in Africa and the world where women account for approximately 64 percent of that country’s lower parliament and 39 percent in the upper parliament. Other African countries such as Senegal, South Africa, Namibia and Mozambique ranked sixth, seventh, eleventh and twelfth in the world have continued to make steady progress to retain their positions in the world classification,” he said.