By Blessing Patrick
In a bold legislative push for inclusivity, the House of Representatives has unveiled a constitutional amendment proposal to increase the number of seats in the National Assembly from 469 to 552, with specific quotas allocated to women and Persons with Disabilities (PWDs).
Speaker Tajudeen Abbas made the announcement during the 2025 House Open Week and the launch of the 10th Assembly Midterm Scorecard in Abuja. The new framework proposes 83 additional seats 55 in the House and 28 in the Senate exclusively for women, alongside reserving 5% of existing seats for PWDs.
“This amendment is not symbolic. It is a structural change to embed gender and disability representation into our national framework,” said Abbas.
Under the plan, the reserved seats for women will be contested through direct elections on separate ballots to ensure regional equity, while candidates for the PWD seats will be nominated by recognized disability advocacy groups.
The Speaker also highlighted the progress made by the House over the past two years, including the introduction of 2,263 bills, 1,478 of which have passed second reading. Of the 237 bills sent to the President, 55 have been signed into law.
In addition to legislative achievements, Abbas revealed the inauguration of two ad-hoc committees to investigate the long-standing non-remittance of the five per cent fuel levy meant for road maintenance. The panels are tasked with reviewing collection practices and recommending reforms to ensure transparency and compliance with the FERMA Act.
Chairman of the ad-hoc committee, Hon. Francis Waive, stressed that despite the legal requirement, the levy has not been properly implemented, calling the oversight a “significant gap in infrastructure funding.”
The House also reported it received 621 public petitions within the period, resolving 24, dismissing 30 for lack of merit, and leaving 567 under active review.
Speaker Abbas concluded with a renewed commitment to pursue reforms on state policing, resource control, and fiscal governance, urging national and state-level collaboration to secure passage of the proposed amendments.
If passed, the amendment could usher in a new era of balanced representation in Nigeria’s political institutions.
