Governance Specialist at ActionAid Nigeria, Vivian Efem-Bassey, has said that Nigerian women occupy less than 5 per cent of seats in the country’s parliament, far below the global benchmark of 26 per cent.
Efem-Bassey made this known during an interview on Channels Television’s The Morning Brief programme on Monday.
“Our figures are low, extremely low. We are below 5 per cent when globally, they are almost hitting 26 to 27 per cent,” she said on the breakfast show.
She highlighted the current push for reserved seats for women as a critical step toward improving female participation in governance.
“It’s the Nigerian women’s way of ensuring that women get to enter into strategic and apex decision-making bodies at Senate level, House of Representatives, and State Assemblies,” Efem-Bassey said.
According to her, women are demanding the passage of the Reserved Seat Bill.
“It is what is on the front burner, and that’s what Nigerian women are demanding. That’s central to us in this year’s International Women’s Day. Right now, our fingers are crossed, we are positive that it will happen, and women all over Nigeria, women’s groups at local, state, and federal levels, have mobilised,” she said.
Efem-Bassey noted that extensive efforts have been made to support the bill. “We have gone the most we can when it comes to standard operating procedures of pushing passage of bills such as this, especially one as critical as this,” she said. She further described the initiative as a historic moment.
“For us, this is writing our names in the sands of time,” she said, emphasizing that women’s perspectives are vital in lawmaking.
“They know where it pinches, what we need, and so when laws are being made around economy, entrepreneurship, business, security, and health, they come from the perspective of being a woman and a lived experience,” Efem-Bassey added.
Reserved Seat Bill
In the 10th National Assembly, a Reserved Seat Bill was proposed to boost women’s participation in governance at both national and state levels, noting that Nigeria has one of the lowest rates of female parliamentary representation.
The bill, which seeks to amend the 1999 Constitution, is scheduled for a vote at the National Assembly.
The Nigerian Governors Forum (NGF) has pledged its full support for the bill. Earlier this year, in February, some women staged a peaceful rally at the National Assembly to fast-track the passage of the Reserved Seat Bill ahead of the 2027 general election.
Who: Newcastle United vs Barcelona What: Champions League last 16, first leg Where: St James’ Park, Newcastle, England When: Tuesday, March 10 at 8pm (20:00 GMT) How to follow: We’ll have all the build-up on Al Jazeera Sport from 17:00 GMT in advance of our live text commentary stream.
Newcastle United will make only their second appearance in the Champions League last 16 when La Liga leaders arrive on Tyneside for a highly anticipated first leg clash.
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For the first time since 2002-03, when they reached the second group phase, Newcastle are one of the 16 clubs remaining in a Champions League campaign.
But having eased past Azerbaijani underdogs Qarabag in the playoff round, Newcastle – currently languishing in 12th place in the Premier League – will have to make a significant step up in class to stun Hansi Flick’s star-studded Barcelona team.
The Catalan club come into the game off the back of a hard-fought win over Athletic Bilbao at the weekend that restored their four-point lead at the top of La Liga.
‘It’s a massive game in our history’
Newcastle boss Eddie Howe has challenged his side to produce the performance of a lifetime as they aim to win one of the biggest games in the club’s history against Barcelona on Tuesday.
“We’ve never been in this position in the Champions League before, and it’s the best competition there is, so for obvious reasons it’s a massive game in our history,” Howe said.
“We need to approach it that way, and we need the supporters to think that way.”
Newcastle famously beat Barca 3-2 thanks to a Faustino Asprilla hat-trick in the clubs’ first Champions League meeting in 1997.
That was the peak of the Magpies’ brief spell as the Premier League’s great entertainers.
Decades in the doldrums followed, reducing the club to laughing stock status under unpopular former owner Mike Ashley. Those dark days included two relegations to the second tier in 2009 and 2016.
Starved of success for so long, Newcastle have enjoyed a welcome renaissance since their Saudi owners took charge in 2021.
Last season, Newcastle ended a 56-year trophy drought by beating Liverpool in the League Cup final.
Now they are hoping to reach the Champions League quarterfinals for the first time.
Newcastle will hope forward Anthony Gordon continues his run of good form against Barca [George Wood/Getty Images]
‘We need to try to find some energy’
Beating the five-time European champions would be a huge moment in Newcastle’s history, especially as their progress has been in danger of stalling this season.
Newcastle are in the bottom half of the Premier League, and they were knocked out of the FA Cup fifth round by Manchester City on Saturday.
Saturday’s game was Newcastle’s 47th of the season and 19th in 63 days, a gruelling schedule that has taken a toll on a squad depleted by injuries.
Howe will try to assemble a new lineup against Barcelona, having rested Dan Burn, Joelinton and Anthony Gordon for the Manchester City clash.
“I don’t think we’ve got the strength at the moment to make loads of changes and keep the same strength in our performance,” Howe conceded.
“We need to try to find some energy from somewhere that will elevate our performance to a level that we’ve not seen before this season because I think that’s the only way we’ll get through.”
Howe looks on during the FA Cup defeat to Manchester City [Paul Currie/AFP]
Yamal ‘only going to get better’
Having already beaten Newcastle 2-1 at St James’ Park in the league phase thanks to a Marcus Rashford brace and without teenage star Lamine Yamal, Barcelona will be confident when heading to Tyneside.
Yamal made the difference in the La Liga win over the weekend, curling the ball into the top corner after 68 minutes to split the sides at Athletic’s San Mames stadium.
“We’re already seeing what Lamine can do – he puts it right in the top corner, and there’s nothing the keeper can do,” Barca midfielder Pedri told Movistar.
“He’s very young, and he’s only going to get better.
“What he has to do is not settle, to keep going like this, keep working and enjoying himself out there on the pitch, because he gives us a lot.”
Yamal, centre, scores for Barcelona in Bilbao on Saturday [Miguel Oses/AP Photo]
Flick takes positives from tricky Athletic win
Barca coach Hansi Flick rotated his side, with Tuesday’s visit to face Newcastle in the Champions League last 16 looming.
As a result, his team put in a disjointed first-half display, creating little and looking far from their free-flowing best.
“Everyone was fighting, defending as a unit, and we have a clean sheet again, and that’s really important,” Flick told reporters, focusing on the positives.
“One game less and three points more, it’s a perfect situation.”
What happened the last time the sides met?
Rashford scored his first goals for Barcelona as the England forward’s brilliant brace inspired a 2-1 win over Newcastle in the Champions League back in September.
He struck twice in the space of nine minutes in the second half at St James’ Park to make a memorable return to England following his loan move from Manchester United in July.
Anthony Gordon got one back for Newcastle in the closing stages, but it was too late to salvage a point in their Champions League group phase opener.
Rashford celebrates against Newcastle United at St James’ Park on September 18 [Clive Mason/Getty Images]
Head-to-head
The two clubs have faced each other on five occasions, all in the Champions League. While the Magpies won the first encounter back in 1997, they have lost the subsequent four games.
September 18, 2025: Newcastle United 1-2 Barcelona (Champions League league stage)
March 19, 2003: Newcastle United 0-2 Barcelona (Champions League group stage)
December 11, 2002: Barcelona 3-1 Newcastle United (Champions League group stage)
November 26, 1997: Barcelona 1-0 Newcastle United (Champions League group stage)
September 17, 1997: Newcastle United 3-2 Barcelona (Champions League group stage)
Newcastle’s team news
Emil Krafth, Lewis Miley, Fabian Schar, and key midfielder Bruno Guimaraes will all miss the game due to injuries.
However, this week Howe has been able to welcome back the likes of Nick Woltemade, Sandro Tonali and Tino Livramento from injuries or illness.
Predicted starting XI:
Pope (goalkeeper); Trippier, Thiaw, Botman, Hall; Willock, Tonali, Joelinton; Barnes, Wissa, Gordon
Barcelona’s team news
Frenkie de Jong, Jules Kounde, Alejandro Balde, and Andreas Christensen have all been ruled out with injuries, while Gavi is unlikely to feature as he continues to work towards full fitness after a knee problem that has kept him out since August.
Britain’s Neil Simpson said “a couple of mistakes” stopped him from defending his Paralympic super G title as he finished fourth in Cortina.
Four years ago in Beijing, Simpson and his brother and guide Andrew won the nation’s only gold of the Games in the visually impaired super G, a victory that cemented him as the first British man to win gold at a Winter Paralympics.
This time around, Simpson was led by Rob Poth after a late switch of guide, but after struggling on the mid-section of the Tofane piste, the British pair crossed the finish line 1.1 seconds shy of a podium finish.
“There was some good skiing, so I’m pretty proud. Unfortunately there were just a couple of mistakes,” said 23-year-old Simpson, who with Poth won the 2023 super G World Championship title.
“The section where there was a bit more air time and jumps, I just didn’t quite have the line there, so that just meant I didn’t have the speed over the flat.”
Austria’s Johannes Aigner won gold for his second Paralympic title of the Games, having also won the downhill.
Simpson’s British team-mate Fred Warburton placed 12th with his guide James Hannan after a run he described as a “bit of a battle”.
Both British pairs will compete in a further three events at the Milan-Cortina Games.
Those start with Tuesday’s alpine combined – an event in which skiers race both a super G and slalom course.
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Fitzpatrick’s confidence building on injury return
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Earlier, Menna Fitzpatrick – Britain’s most decorated Winter Paralympian with six medals – made her first appearance at these Games with a sixth-place finish in the women’s visually impaired super G.
Fitzpatrick has endured a torrid build-up over the last 18 months, having broken her leg at the end of 2024 before sustaining an anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury in training in December.
She opted to avoid surgery in a bid to reach the Games, and after training runs on the course last week, the 27-year-old and her guide Katie Guest chose to skip Saturday’s downhill event in order to focus on her more preferred events.
In the super G, an event in which Fitzpatrick won silver and bronze at the past two Games, the British duo finished in one minute 25.52 seconds, more than 10 seconds behind Italy’s Chiara Mazzel, who won gold for the hosts.
“It was a step up from our training runs,” said Fitzpatrick.
“I managed to let the skis run a bit more, which is a step in the right direction for sure. I was way more confident and really enjoyed the course.
“It’s so lovely to actually be out here after the last two seasons of being injured. I had a lot of fun and I’ve got great confidence in the knee itself, just the [other] girls are skiing really well and they’re pushing the competition, so we’ll slowly get closer.
Lawyer to former Kaduna State governor Nasir El-Rufai have accused the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) of spreading unverified allegations linking their client to multi-billion-naira properties in Egypt, describing the claims as part of a politically motivated campaign.
In a statement issued in Abuja on Monday, counsel Ubong Esop Akpan said the allegations were based on anonymous “leaks” and lacked verifiable evidence.
The lawyer argued that the claims were being circulated to justify what he described as the unlawful detention of the former governor.
The counsel described the ICPC claim as “a fabricated narrative, devoid of verifiable evidence and reliant on shadowy ‘sources,’” adding that it is not an investigation but a desperate smear campaign designed to justify the ongoing unlawful detention of a citizen who has committed no crime.
READ ALSO: El-Rufai’s Family Demands His Release, Says Detention By ICPC Unlawful
“It exemplifies the ICPC’s transformation from an anti-corruption agency into a criminal enterprise, perpetrating prosecutorial misconduct, hostage-taking, and violations of fundamental rights in pursuit of a failed agenda of political persecution”.
Akpan said El-Rufai had voluntarily reported to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on February 16, where he was granted administrative bail before being taken into custody two days later by operatives allegedly acting under the direction of the Department of State Services (DSS).
According to the statement, El-Rufai has remained in detention since February 18 without being formally charged in court.
The lawyer argued that the detention violates Section 35 of Nigeria’s Constitution, which guarantees personal liberty and requires suspects to be brought before a court within a a reasonable time.
He also challenged the validity of a remand order reportedly issued on February 19, claiming it expired on March 4 and was never served on the defence team.
Akpan further alleged that ICPC officials, including its Chairman, Musa Adamu Aliyu, attempted to pressure the former governor to abandon political activities in exchange for his release.
Part of the statement reads: “The ICPC’s resort to anonymous media plants, rather than judicial process, betrays their fear of scrutiny and underscores their complicity in forgery (Section 363) and using forged documents (Section 364) to perpetuate this injustice.
“We have initiated criminal complaint proceedings against the Chairman, the DSS Director General, and other implicated officers, seeking their personal accountability for these crimes.
