Four female senators and 16 female members of the House of Representatives posted a total tally of 58 bills in the first year of the 10th National Assembly
Concerns over the underrepresentation of women in both elected and appointed political office have been loud for quite some time. With their number drastically decreasing from eight in the previous 9th Senate to only four in the current 10th Senate, it appears that women’s presence in the senate has suffered a significant loss. Conversely however, the percentage of women rose from thirteen to sixteen in the House of Representatives between both assemblies. Eight of the fifteen women who gained seats in the House of Representatives are newcomers, while seven are returning lawmakers.
Below is a list of the female lawmakers who made it to the 10th National Assembly and their performance on bills sponsorship in the first year of the assembly:
SENATE
Ireti Heebah Kingibe (Labour Party, FCT)
Kingibe emerged as the second female senator to represent Abuja, the nation’s Federal Capital Territory (FCT) after Khairat Abdulrazaq-Gwadabe who was the first under the extant fourth republic. She joined partisan politics in 1990 during the defunct Social Democratic Party (SDP) era where she served as an adviser to the party’s national chairman. The civil engineer originally ran for the FCT senate in 2003 as a member of the defunct All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP). Kingibe joined the Labour Party in 2022 and ran in the general elections of 2023, unseating the senator who had previously served multiple terms, Philip Aduda.
The records show that she sponsored only one bill in the first year of the senate. That bill still awaits a second reading.
Idiat Oluranti Adebule (APC, Lagos West)
Sen. Adebule was Secretary to the State Government (SSG) under the Babatunde Fashola-led administration and became a one-term deputy governor of Lagos State between 2015 and 2019. She also superintended over the state’s education affairs as coordinating commissioner of the ministry of education. She had previously served as commissioner for the Teachers’ Establishment and Pensions Office, formerly known as the Lagos State Post Primary Teaching Service Commission (PP-TESCOM). An educationist, Adebule had worked as a lecturer at the Michael Otedola College of Primary Education in Lagos and the Lagos State University. She sponsored four bills in the first year of the10th Senate of which are awaiting second reading.
Ipalibo Harry Banigo (PDP, Rivers West)
Sen. Banigo is a medical doctor by training and had director of public health services, acting commissioner, and permanent secretary. In 1995, she was appointed Secretary to the State Government (SSG) in Rivers and Head of Service in 1998. In 2015, Banigo became the first female deputy governor of Rivers State. She sponsored elevn bills in the period under review of which awaiting second reading.
Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan (PDP, Kogi Central)
In March 2018, Natasha gained attention for presenting an in-depth report to the National Assembly, exposing corrupt practices at the Ajaokuta Steel Mill and revealing the misappropriation of government funds since the company’s inception. Since joining the Social Democratic Party (SDP) in 2018, the lawyer and social entrepreneur has faced challenges in her political career. Akpoti-Uduaghan contested the off-season 2019 governorship election of Kogi State against Governor Yahaya Bello of the APC. Her victory in that election would have made her the first woman elected as governor in Nigeria. On October 31, 2023, the appellate court’s ruling brought a triumphant conclusion to the February 28 Kogi central senatorial election declaring Natasha as winner after she disputed the returns and filed a petition at the tribunal. Her triumph was not only a significant accomplishment for her political party, the PDP, but also for Nigerian women in politics, who experienced setbacks in the 2023 elections.
In the 10th Senate’s one year in office Natasha sponsored 2 bills of which 100% still await second reading.
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
Tolulope Akande-Sadipe (APC, Oluyole, Oyo State)
Beginning her career as an accountant, Akande-Sadipe worked for many years in the private sector before serving as special adviser on projects to the Oyo state governor in 2016. In 2019, she was elected to the House of Representatives. She oversees the House Committee on diaspora affairs and has sponsored only one bill in the first year of the assembly.
Mariam Onuoha (APC, Isiala Mbano/Okigwe/Onuimo, Imo State)
Onuoha has a bachelor’s degree in estate management and a post graduate in environmental planning and protection. Prior to becoming a lawmaker, she served as senior special assistant to the governor of Bayelsa state on international development cooperation before her election into the House of Representatives in 2019. Having returned for a second term, Onuoha was also the only female lawmaker who indicated interest in the position of speaker of the House. She has 23 bills to her name of which 13 percent are awaiting senate concurrence while 86.9% await second reading.
Kafilat Ogbara (APC, Kosofe, Lagos State)
Ogbara is a graduate of the University of Lagos. She was served at the Technical Aid Corps of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and was member of board of several federal parastatals such as Nigeria Television Authority (NTA). In 2011, the lawmaker was a governorship candidate in Ogun state. She was later appointed as a member of the Audit Service Commission in 2020 by the then Lagos State Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu. Ogbara sponsored five bills in the first year of the 4-year tenure, of which 80 percent are awaiting second reading.
Oriyomi Onanuga (APC, Ikenne/Shagamu/Remo North, Ogun State)
Onanuga had served in different capacities at the grassroots politically before becoming a member of the House. As a returning lawmaker, she had previously served as a chairman of the committee on women affairs and social development in the 9th assembly.She doubles as the only female principal officer among the 19 principal officers in both chambers of the parliament. Onanuga sponsored five bills in the first year of the assembly of which 16 percent await senate concurrence and 50percent await second reading.
READ ALSO: NASS @ 25:Only 43 of 763 senators elected since 1999 are female
Lilian Obiageli Orogbu ( LP, Awka North/Awka South, Anambra)
Orogbu is a doctorate degree holder in business administration and management from Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka. She was earlier listed deputy governorship candidate of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) in the 2022 elections in Anambra state. However, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) replaced their names with Chukwuma Soludo and his running mate Onyekachukwu Ibezim, who emerged victorious at the 2022 polls. She contested and won Awka North/Awka South constituency in 2023 under the LP ticket. In the period under review, Orogbu sponsored two bills both of which are awaiting second reading.
Maureen Chinwe Gwacham (APGA, Oyi/Ayamelum, Anambra)
Prior to her emergence as a member of the House of Representatives, Gwacham was a businesswoman. She has not sponsored a bill in the period under review.
Chinwe Clara Nnabuife (YPP, Orumba North/Orumba South, Anambra State)
Nnabuife is a real estate developer who began her career in 2006. She had earlier contested the 2019 National Assembly elections under the Young Progressives Party (YPP) and lost, though she polled the second-highest votes for the position. After losing the 2019 election, she re-ran in 2023 under the same party and successfully emerged as the winner. Nnabuife has no bill to her name in the period under review.
Marie Enenimiete Ebikake (PDP, Brass-Nembe, Bayelsa State)
Ebikake, a teacher-turned-politician, had served as commissioner for transportation in Bayelsa state between 2012 and 2015 but was fired over allegations that she was part of a plot against the re-election of the then governor Seriake Dickson. Ebikake ran for the Brass-Nembe seat in 2019, but Isreal Sunny-Goli defeated her. She however won the 2023 polls and has not sponsored a bill so far.
Regina Akume (APC, Gboko/Tarka, Benue State)
Wife of George Akume, who was Benue State governor between 1999 and 2007 and is now the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Regina was a woman leader in her constituency. She has not sponsored a bill in the period under review.
Blessing Onuh (APC, Otukpo/Ohimini, Benue State)
Onuh, the daughter of Nigeria’s former senate president, David Mark, was secretary of the social welfare secretariat in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) in 2010 before her election into the House of Representatives. Under the PDP, she had contested against her uncle for the Otukpo/Ohimini ticket but lost the ticket. She then defected to APGA, under which she won the general election into the House in 2019. She defected again to the APC and won her re-election bid in 2023. She however has no bill to her name.
Zainab Gimba (APC, Bama/Ngala/Kala-Balge, Borno State)
Gimba worked as a senior lecturer at the University of Maiduguri, Borno state. Between 2011-2014, she was commissioner in the ministry of poverty alleviation and youth empowerment in Borno. She also served as the Commissioner of the State Universal Basic Education Board between 2014 and 2015. She also served as a Commissioner under the Ministry of Water Resources in Borno State from 2015 to 2018. She was elected vice-president of the Commonwealth Women Parliamentarian (CWP), Africa region but has not sponsored a bill in one year.
Erhiatake Ibori-Suenu (PDP, Ethiope East/Ethiope West, Delta)
42-year-old Ibori-Suenu is the daughter of the former governor of Delta State, James Ibori. The first term member of the House studied Business Studies and Information Systems in the United Kingdom and had previously served as a member of the Delta State House of Assembly. She has not sponsored a bill in one year.
READ MORE: Women grossly underrepresented in the House of Reps
Amadi Blessing Chigeru (PDP, Port Harcourt II, Rivers)
Chigeru is the member representing Port Harcourt II federal constituency in the !0th House of Representatives and is the deputy chairman, women and social development committee. She sponsored two bills of which are awaiting a second reading.
Boma Goodhead (PDP, Akuku-Toru/Asari-Toru, Rivers State)
Boma Goodhead hails from Buguma in Asari-Toru local government area of Rivers State and is the youngest sister to Asari Dokubo, a former Niger Delta militant. The female lawmaker was first elected in 2015 and was re-elected for her third term in the House of Representatives in 2023. Notably, she challenged masked State Security Service (SSS) officers who blocked the entrance to the National Assembly Complex in 2018, preventing lawmakers, staff, journalists and the public from entering the complex. She has one bill so far in the 10th House.
Khadija Bukar Abba-Ibrahim (APC, Damaturu/Gujba/Gulani/Tarmuwa, Yobe State)
Abba-Ibrahim is the wife of former Yobe state governor, late Bukar Abba-Ibrahim. The former federal minister and returning lawmaker is serving her fourth term in the national assembly. In October 2018, she defeated her step-son to clinch the ticket of her party to run for the post. She has not sponsored a bill.
Fatima Talba ( APC, Nangere/Potiskum, Yobe State)
Talba is a returning legislator who had earlier contested the senatorial elections against her brother, Adamu Garba Talba in 2007 under the All Nigeria People’s Party (ANPP) but lost. She won the election into the House of Reps in 2019 and won her re-election bid in 2023 under the APC and currently chairs the House Committee on Women in Parliament. She has however not sponsored a bill.
10TH NASS REPORT CARD: Read up on the performance report cards of senators and members of the House of Representatives and other specialised categories here
