The House of Representatives Committee on Women Affairs and Social Development has urged the Federal Ministry of Women Affairs to fully enforce its mandate of promoting gender equality, safeguarding the rights of women and girls, and advancing their overall welfare.
The Committee’s Chairperson, Kafilat Ogbara (APC, Lagos), delivered the charge during an oversight meeting with the Minister of Women Affairs, Imaan Ibrahim, on Wednesday at the National Assembly.
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The session formed part of the Committee’s review of the 2024 budget performance and assessment of ongoing interventions targeted at women and girls.
Ms Ogbara said the meeting was aimed at reinforcing the shared commitment to transparency, accountability and empowerment, adding that oversight was essential to ensuring that approved funds translate into measurable improvements in the lives of women and girls across the country.
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“This is not merely a procedural exercise; it is a vital opportunity for us to ensure that our financial commitments translate into meaningful outcomes for the women and girls of our nation,” she said. “The budget is not just a document of figures; it is a reflection of our values and priorities as a society. The allocations made to the Ministry of Women Affairs are crucial for advancing gender equality, promoting women’s rights, and ensuring that every woman has the opportunity to thrive.”
She stressed that the committee’s review would focus on percentage releases, expenditure and utilisation of funds so far.
According to her, delays in fund releases undermine programmes on women’s health, education, economic empowerment and protection from violence.
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Policy gaps, poor funding and coordination problems
In her response, Ms Ibrahim, said women and girls make up an essential share of the country’s population and must receive adequate attention to enable Nigeria’s development.
She said the ministry, as the lead agency for social protection, continued to struggle with several operational challenges, including outdated policies, weak implementation guidelines and inadequate funding.
“Yes, we have a few challenges when it comes to operations. I know that as a country, we’re facing challenges when it comes to the implementation of the 2024 and 2025 (budget). But aside that, we’re battling with issues around outdated policies and insufficient guidelines and protocols to be able to discharge our functions, which is all work in progress.
“We’ve set up a committee to ensure that all these laws are properly reviewed and then brought to the National Assembly for the final passage,” she said.
She added that funding constraints remained a major barrier, though the Medium-Term Expenditure Framework presented earlier on Wednesday had created an opportunity to correct some of the gaps.
“Mr President has approved for me to sit with the economic team to be able to design a budget that reflects the priorities for the women in the country,” she noted.
The minister also identified frequent administrative changes within the ministry, including changes in permanent secretaries, as a factor slowing institutional stability.
Ms Ibrahim further raised concerns about poor coordination within the gender-development sector, especially with development partners.
“So there’s a lot of contamination in the space and I think that it comes from the way that the ministry was run in the past. On this note, I’d also like to make reference to the document that was submitted in response to the letter that we received from the committee, which has broken down how far we have gone with implementation of the 2024 budget, 2025 budget.”
She said these problems stemmed from how the ministry was previously managed, but noted that efforts were ongoing to restore order and coordination, working with the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation and the Budget Office.
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Providing details of budget releases, the minister said the ministry received 99 per cent of its overhead and personnel allocations for 2024, but only 6.9 per cent of its capital budget.
For the 2025 budget, the ministry had received 13.4% of overhead, 79.9 per cent of personnel, and 0.1% of its capital allocation.
She reaffirmed the ministry’s readiness to work closely with the committee to protect the interests of women and girls.
“I would like to reiterate and reference your speech, Honourable Chair, where you highlighted the need for us to work together and also to carry everyone along and to capture every interest group,” she said.
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