National Institute for Legislative and Democratic Studies, NILDS, has moved to engage with political parties on the need to restructure the legal framework of parties to reflect equal opportunities. Director General of the Institute, Prof. Abubakar O.Sulaiman disclosed this in Abuja on Tuesday, 7th November, 2023, during a public dialogue and technical engagement on inclusive governance with political parties and civil society organisations in Nigeria.

According to the DG, the engagement would be achieved in conjunction with civil society organisations as it will foster inclusive practices of good governance. “As offshoot from the conference report, a key observation was the need for NILDS to engage with political parties in restructuring their Constitutions to reflect equal opportunities.”

“This is to be achieved in conjunction by engaging CSOs in fostering inclusive practices of good governance. Hence, the invitation to further engage with you to critically explore these issues and jointly determine actionable roadmap strategies to achieve the expected objectives of the political parties. ” He stated.

Speaking further, Prof. Sulaiman reiterated that NILDS is strategically positioned to work with political parties and CSOs to further create awareness about women’s rights and the importance of political representation. “When political parties nominate women as representatives in elections, it opens up opportunities for women to be elected into office. “Conversely, when they fail to bring up women during nominations, the women are automatically cut off.” He said.