A/HRC/28/64/Add.2 60. Several non-governmental organizations reported endemic corruption permeating the local, state and Federal political levels, and denounced the lack of budgetary transparency, which renders extremely difficult the monitoring and accountability of political actors. There was a commonly shared claim that revenues from petroleum, which constitute most of the national wealth, were not trickling down to communities. In the December 2013 report on Nigeria of the Working Group on the Universal Periodic Review, Côte d'Ivoire recommended that Nigeria “reinforce anti-corruption laws”.12 This recommendation enjoyed the support of Nigeria. 61. The Government stated that the Constitution provided equal opportunities for political participation. It was stressed that the Federal Character Commission was the body in charge of guaranteeing equality of State representation in Federal institutions and administrations, through the application of the federal character principle. This principle can be traced back to the quota system introduced in the recruitment procedures of the Nigerian Armed Forces before independence, as a means to ensure no particular group would be a majority in the army. 62. The Special Rapporteur met with several members of the Federal Character Commission in Abuja. They informed her about the work of the Commission to foster a regional balance in public representation, particularly the development of a set of guidelines for the distribution of posts in the federal public service, including a provision stating that the indigenes of any State shall not constitute less than 2.5 per cent or not more than 3 per cent of the total positions available, including junior staff at the head office. It was also stressed that ethnic and religious aspects were not taken into account in applying the federal character principle in order to preserve the secular character of the Nigerian State. 63. Numerous non-governmental sources contended that the fact that the Federal Character Commission did not consider ethnic and religious aspects in applying the federal character principle rendered the equality of the representation of States’ groups ineffective. Some representatives of non-governmental organizations affirmed that it was necessary to rethink the mandate and composition of the Commission in order to establish a proportional representation to ensure that ethnic and religious diversity was fully reflected within national, state and local institutions. 64. The Special Rapporteur is concerned that, despite the relevant role played by women, particularly minority women, in civil society initiatives, she hardly encountered women participating in Government and political leadership. She was informed of the adoption in December 2006 of the National Gender Policy,13 which includes among its goals “to achieve gender equity in political participation and representation, and to draw up mechanisms for the empowerment of women in politics”. The National Gender Policy reserves a quota of 30 per cent of political positions for women, in order to increase the number of women in elective positions and decision-making processes. She was informed of the growing presence of women in high-level political positions, and the appointment of 13 women as ministers following the 2011 elections. Nevertheless, the political participation of women in Nigeria remains low; according to the United Nations Development Programme, only 32 out of 469 seats in the National Parliament are held by women, which constitutes 8 per cent of the total representation.14 There is a lack of information regarding the political participation of minority women and the challenges they face in having their voices heard. 12 13 14 See A/HRC/25/6, para. 135.9. Available from http://cewhin.org/pdf/National%20Gender%20PolicySituation%20Analysis.pdf. See www.undp.org/content/undp/en/home/ourwork/democraticgovernance/successstories/ nigeria--a-boost-for-women-s-participation-in-politics/. 15