An empowerment strategy for women in the nation has been approved by the Federal Executive Council.
The new policy, known as WEE, was revealed to State House correspondents on Wednesday in Abuja by the Minister of Women Affairs, Mrs. Pauline Tallen, who expressed the hope that it would contribute to the best possible development for the nation.
“The WEE Policy was approved by the Federal Executive Council yesterday,” she stated. The WEE Policy seeks to empower women economically. We’ve been working on a policy dialogue for more than a year.
To find the best way to empower women and integrate them into the mainstream of nation building, we have travelled across the entire country to all 36 states, engaging in dialogue with the private sector and rural residents.
You’ll agree with me that women make up more than 50% of the population, and involving the entire populace will ensure national development, Tallen said.
“The country cannot develop optimally if 50% of the population is neglected; it’s like a country walking on one leg.”
The minister thanked the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (ret. ), for his support and said that having such a policy in place had been a long-time dream due to the value of women in society.
“We have been pursuing this dream, and yesterday, Mr. President gave the green light. By approving this Women Economic Empowerment, Mr. President is leaving behind a legacy that will help women become more involved in financial plans and contribute to the development of their country, she continued.
Abubakar Malami, the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, announced at the occasion that the FEC had given its approval for the publication of the Federal Laws of Nigeria.
The Federal Executive Council held a second extraordinary meeting on Tuesday, May 23, 2023, as you are aware, according to the justice minister.
The Office of the Attorney General presented the Council with three FEC memos, and the three memos were taken, discussed, and approved.
“A memo regarding the formalisation of the Public Private Partnership agreement between the Federal Ministry of Justice and Lexis of South Africa was taken as the first memo.
“And it has to do with the publication of the Federal Republic of Nigeria’s laws and all legal materials. This has to do with the release of the Federation’s compilation of laws.
“In 2003 and 2005, the Ministry of Justice and a South African company entered into a contract relating to the ongoing publication of the laws of Nigeria after they had been compiled as a book for 15 years.
“That contract was intended to be a rollover contract, so that through a sustainable arrangement, we will have a compendium of the laws of the federation published on a regular basis.”
The minister claims that, with the council’s approval, the nation will have a continuous publication of the laws of the Federation of Nigeria in the form of a book, in a way that is consistent with the quality and, in fact, with associated international best practises.
Malami also revealed that in order to safeguard the national interest in cases involving other countries, the Council had approved standardising the use of discretion by solicitors.
He claims that the new action will aid in preventing the inclusion of clauses harmful to Nigeria in international contracts or agreements.
The operationalization and deployment of the government’s contracts administration system are the topics of the second memo.
“When we took office, we inherited a judgement of liability against the Nigerian government for approximately US$10 billion due to the alleged breach of a contract known as P&ID.
And finally, based on our evaluation of the contract, it appears that the lawyers in charge of reviewing government contracts exercised a great deal of discretion that was underappreciated. As a result, some significant clauses were overlooked, which ultimately would have served to protect the interests of the Nigerian government.
The need has arisen for us to think about the best way to reduce the amount of discretion being exercised by lawyers and bring about standardisation in line with international best practises’, Malami concluded.
