President Bola Tinubu is expected to forward executive bills to the National Assembly seeking the creation of additional legislative seats for women and Persons with Disabilities.
Speaker of the House of Representatives, Tajudeen Abbas, disclosed this on Thursday in Abuja at a reception organised by the Nigerian Institute of Public Relations in honour of the President and Chief Executive Officer of the Global Alliance for Public Relations and Communication Management, Prof. Justin Green.
Abbas said the proposed seats would be additional to the existing elective constituencies and would apply to the federal and state legislatures.
According to him, the proposed legislation on special seats for women has been sent to the Ministry of Justice for final review, while the bill concerning PWD representation is expected to be transmitted within weeks.
Abbas said, “We have persuaded Mr President, and he has accepted, for the very first time, to sponsor executive bills through our effort to the National Assembly to provide special seats for women. And that will be independent of the regular seats that are being contested.”
He added, “So it is coming any time now because it is a request that he has taken to the Ministry of Justice to fine-tune and represent.”
The Speaker also said the National Assembly had worked with the President to introduce representation for persons with disabilities in the federal and state legislatures.
“We also initiated and facilitated, through Mr President, for the very first time, the inclusion of representation for persons with disabilities in the National Assembly and the subnational legislatures,” he said.
“We are hoping that within the next few weeks, Mr President will also bring an executive bill that will enable Persons with Disabilities to have a say at both the national and subnational levels of our parliament.”
Under the proposed women’s reserved-seat arrangement, 37 additional seats would be created in the Senate and another 37 in the House of Representatives, with each state and the Federal Capital Territory allocated one seat. The proposal would also provide three additional seats for women in each state House of Assembly, according to the report.
The proposed arrangement is expected to run for four general election cycles, or 16 years, before being reviewed.
A separate proposal on PWD representation would provide additional seats across the six geopolitical zones in both the Senate and House of Representatives. Another bill, HB 1931, seeks special representation for persons with disabilities at the National Assembly, state Houses of Assembly and local government legislative councils.
Abbas also spoke about the relationship between the Senate and the House of Representatives, describing their cooperation as important to the work of the National Assembly.
“The National Assembly, as you know, operates as a bicameral legislature where we have the Senate, on the one hand, and the House of Representatives, on the other. We are proud that the relationship between the two chambers has been very good,” he said.
He added, “We operate seamlessly and collaborate on every matter of national importance that is brought before us. We operate independently but only collaborate where necessary.”
The Speaker also said Nigeria’s hosting of the World Public Relations Forum later in the year would bring delegates from 126 countries to Abuja.
The event, scheduled for November 15 to 21, 2026, is expected to attract about 3,000 delegates.
Responding, Green commended Abbas and other National Assembly leaders for their efforts on greater representation for women and persons with disabilities.
“What you have done is phenomenal,” Green said.
The President of the Nigerian Institute of Public Relations, Dr Ike Neliaku, said Nigeria had undergone a rigorous process to secure the hosting rights for the global event.
