Ogun state commissioner, Adijat Adeleye urges women to support female candidates
The Ogun State Commissioner for Women Affairs and Social Development, Hon Adijat Adeleye has called for a nationwide women’s movement to rally behind female candidates in the forthcoming 2027 general elections.
Penpushing reports that Adeleye made the called-on Thursday at the 9th Voice of Women Conference and Awards in Abuja, warning that the fight for inclusion cannot be left until election season.
The former two-term lawmaker, speaking during the Fireside Chat session themed “Breaking Barriers through the Power of Community”, emphasised that women must rediscover their historic collective strength to shift Nigeria’s political landscape.
“If a single woman could once gather all women to stop what she felt was unfair, that collective power has always been there. At some point, we lost it. We have to come together as one. Nobody can walk alone to achieve the desired goal of women’, she stated
Penpushing further reports that Adeleye identified economic empowerment as the foundation for political participation, pointing out that women with resources are better equipped to navigate Nigeria’s money-driven political terrain.
“When women who couldn’t afford land to farm before come together to get land and are making money, that is economic empowerment, which is key to political empowerment. When you have money, politics is easier. Money is important”, Adeleye emphasized
Penpushing also reports that she cited the example of the Nigeria for Women Project, a World Bank-supported initiative piloted in Ogun State, as evidence of how grassroots mobilisation can translate into political influence.
The commissioner emphasized that through affinity groups, women have pooled resources, accessed farmland, and trained in leadership, enabling them to back candidates in local elections.
“We saw in the last local government election women coming together saying, this is the person we want you to support. There cannot be equality without equity. Men already have 95 percent of leadership. We must first talk about equity to catch up’, she declared.
Penpushing reports that she said this underscored the need for deliberate policies to correct historical gender exclusion, and equally addressed structural imbalances in Nigeria’s political system, arguing that equity—not just equality—is the pathway forward.
The popular commissioner in Ogun State rejecting a common stereotype, pushed back against the notion that women fail to support one another, explaining that men should stop the notions that women are their own enemies
“I told the men, stop coming to us to say women are their own enemies. For one woman who is not supporting me, I have 10 women who are supporting me,”
Penpushing further reports that Adeleye insisted that solidarity among women is already reshaping political dynamics; while drawing on her over 30 years in politics and public service, she credited humility, mentorship, and service as values that sustained her journey.
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