Reserved Seats Bill Offers Little Hope for Women, Says ADC Chieftain Bolanle Sarumi-Aliu

Honourable Bolanle Aminat Sarumi-Aliu, a chieftain of the African Democratic Congress (ADC) in Oyo State, has expressed deep scepticism about the proposed reserved seats for women bill, arguing that the initiative is poorly thought out and unlikely to deliver meaningful political inclusion for women. Speaking on Inside Sources with Laolu Akande on Channels Television on […]

Honourable Bolanle Aminat Sarumi-Aliu, a chieftain of the African Democratic Congress (ADC) in Oyo State, has expressed deep scepticism about the proposed reserved seats for women bill, arguing that the initiative is poorly thought out and unlikely to deliver meaningful political inclusion for women.

Speaking on Inside Sources with Laolu Akande on Channels Television on Sunday, Sarumi-Aliu acknowledged the passion of women who have been advocating for the bill but insisted that the proposal, as currently framed, raises more questions than answers.

“For women who have been supporting the reserved seats for women I applaud you and well done. However, I do not see any hope in it,” she said.

According to her, the economic realities facing the country make the creation of special seats for women impractical and unsustainable.

“You cannot ask a government that is still struggling, not enough money is even getting to the people, to create separate seats for you so that a woman will now contest,” she stated. She added that the absence of clearly defined modalities further weakens the proposal. “They haven’t even been to work out the modalities, right?”

Sarumi-Aliu questioned the logic of the representation structure being proposed under the bill, particularly the idea of women contesting separate seats to represent all women in a state.

“If you are creating a separate seat, contesting against another fellow woman, then which local government am I going to represent?” she asked. “They said, ‘you’re going to represent the whole women in the state’. I don’t get that.”

Using the Senate as an example, she rejected the notion of identity-based representation detached from constituencies. “So, I’m going to be a female senator, for example, representing all females in the state. No,” she said firmly.

Instead of creating special seats, the ADC chieftain advocated for structural reforms within political parties as a more realistic and effective pathway to increasing women’s representation. “The solution, which I have told a few of them, is to sit down the political parties,” she said.

She proposed a quota-based approach within party nominations, stressing that deliberate inclusion at the party level would yield better results. “Now, three senatorial slots in APC. One should go to a woman. Reps—14—give women at least four out of it. This is how we are going to get somewhere,” Sarumi-Aliu argued.

According to her, political balance cannot be achieved without intentional support for women.

“Because whether we like it or not, we still have to balance things out,” she said, adding that the playing field has historically been uneven. “You can’t have a free and fair election if you’ve never boosted the women a bit, right?”

She extended her proposal to state assemblies, urging governors and parties to commit to higher female representation. “If the parties can be mandated to push one woman for senate, four women for rep, then in the assembly, the governors that have their 32 assembly members have at least 10, 15 to be women,” she said.

While Sarumi-Aliu acknowledged that embedding such requirements into law would be ideal, she expressed doubts about the political will and timing. “That [including it in the law] needs to happen, but I doubt if it will happen on time,” she noted.

As an alternative, she said immediate pressure should be placed on political parties. “So the easy thing is to call the political parties to order, which I am organising already. I have an NGO,” she revealed.

Sarumi-Aliu disclosed that she has been mobilising female aspirants across party lines, drawing from her own experience and those of others who were denied tickets in previous elections. “I formed a movement in 2022, people like me who have aspired, didn’t get their tickets, didn’t make it,” she said.

Describing herself as a rallying point for aspirants, she added, “These women, I’ll call them all—both APC women, PDP women, every party, female—as long as you want to contest.”
She explained that the initiative would bring together female aspirants and party leaders in a single forum to demand accountability. “They will come into a big hall. We’ll invite the leaders of these parties to turn up. We’ll now ask them, please, can you let us know categorically how many women you are going to field in your elections?”

According to her, once party leadership gives clear directives, compliance should follow. “If the chairman of the party mandates it, the parties must do it state by state,” she said. However, she was quick to point out the entrenched power dynamics that often undermine internal party democracy. “But guess what? Nigeria is the sitting governors that choose who they want.”