The All Progressives Congress (APC) has launched a nationwide women’s mobilisation structure covering the 774 local government areas as part of efforts to secure electoral support for President Bola Tinubu and the party ahead of the 2027 elections.
The First Lady, Oluremi Tinubu, unveiled the structure on Monday at the inauguration of the APC Presidential Women Campaign Council in Abuja, directing women supporters to take the party’s campaign to wards, communities and homes.
She said various women support groups that had previously operated separately had been brought under one structure to mobilise support for the APC across the presidential, governorship, National Assembly and state assembly elections.
“We have collapsed every other women support group into one, from Tinubu Again, Torch Bearers and others. What you will see on the ballot box is APC. We are here to promote APC, nothing less,” she said.
The First Lady said the campaign would include six zonal mega rallies, state-level rallies and a grand finale in Abuja.
She said she and the wife of the Vice President, Nana Shettima, would participate in the zonal campaigns, while the wives of the Senate President and Speaker of the House of Representatives, as well as the Chairperson of the Nigeria Governors’ Spouses Forum, would represent her at state-level campaigns.
Mrs Tinubu based the campaign on what she described as the gains of the administration’s economic reforms, saying the theme, “Renewed Hope Agenda 2.0: From Reforms to Prosperity”, reflected the direction of the government.
“The theme of this year’s rally, Renewed Hope Agenda 2.0: From Reforms to Prosperity, is not just a slogan. It is our reality,” she said.
She cited economic stabilisation, declining inflation, rising foreign reserves, renewed investor interest, increased support for farmers, and access to student loans through the Nigerian Education Loan Fund among the administration’s achievements.
Mrs Tinubu urged the women to return to their states and take the government’s policies and programmes directly to voters.
“Tell everyone as you go back to your various states that you have a leader who is bold enough to take difficult decisions in the beginning. He is a leader who can be trusted to lead us into prosperity,” she said.
She also challenged the women to convert their mobilisation into votes for the APC in 2027.
“Let us show the world that Nigerian women have spoken and we speak with one voice, that we vote APC again so that the solid foundation laid can be built upon,” she added.
The APC National Women Leader, Mary Alile Idele, said the immediate task was to take the administration’s reform narrative beyond government offices and into homes, markets and communities.
“Our responsibility is to take the gains and opportunities of the Renewed Hope Agenda from policy to the people, from government programmes to homes, markets, communities and the grassroots,” she said.
Idele said the party’s women leadership would strengthen mobilisation networks across wards and local governments, identify women who needed support and connect them with available government empowerment programmes.
“We must move from mobilisation to measurable actions with clear responsibility, grassroots structure, regular engagement and accountable results,” she said.
The Minister of Women Affairs and Social Development, Imaan Sulaiman-Ibrahim, said women had a responsibility to ensure that the administration’s reforms translated into tangible benefits for Nigerians.
“There is no time for us to settle than now,” she said, urging the women to work as one team.
She said the administration had prioritised women’s economic empowerment, food security and social protection, as well as the review of outdated policies and laws affecting children and families.
Sulaiman-Ibrahim said the mobilisation would extend across all levels of the political structure.
“I look forward to working with each and every one of you from door to door, ward to ward, logo to logo, house to house, corner to corner, person to person, family to family, local government to local government, state to state, to deliver our candidate,” she said.
The Senior Special Assistant to the President on Sustainable Development Goals, Princess Adejoke Orelope-Adefulire, challenged each woman at the gathering to mobilise at least 100 women for the APC in her community.
“Go back to your communities, go back to your homes, door to door, neighbour to neighbour, community to community,” she said.
She also urged the women to reconcile differences within their families and communities to strengthen the party’s grassroots mobilisation.
“We don’t want to leave any woman behind. So each and every one of us should go back to our community and mobilise 100 women,” she said.
The Director-General of the Presidential Campaign Council, Abdulaziz Yari, said the turnout showed the readiness of APC women to drive the party’s campaign.
“What we have here on the ground, we believe we are ready to go. As a PCC, we are doing all we can to support you, so that we continue to have one voice, one movement, one choice and one man,” he said.
Yari described women as the “loyal workers” of the APC and urged them to translate their mobilisation into votes in 2027.
The First Lady of Kwara State and Chairperson of the Nigeria Governors’ Spouses Forum, Olufolake Abdulrazaq, pledged the support of governors’ wives for the nationwide campaign.
“All the first ladies are here. We are ready. We are ready for all the campaigns in all the states and all the campaigns in all the zones,” she said.
Abdulrazaq said the governors’ wives had witnessed the impact of interventions under the Renewed Hope Initiative, particularly programmes targeting elderly persons, women, persons with disabilities and young people.
She said the gathering had brought together delegates from the 36 states and the 774 local government areas, adding: “We are ready to mobilise, mobilise, mobilise.”
The wife of the Vice President, Nana Shettima, also urged the women to take the message of the administration’s programmes back to their communities.
She highlighted interventions under the Renewed Hope Initiative targeting students, women, older persons and persons living with disabilities, saying the programmes had reached communities across the country.
“It’s the time for us to pay back to our dear President,” she said, urging the women to support the APC in 2027.
The wife of the Senate President, Ekaette Akpabio, rallied women behind the campaign, leading senators’ wives in a chant of “Go and tell them Tinubu is coming back again.”
Similarly, the wife of the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Fatima Abbas, pledged the support of lawmakers’ wives, saying they were prepared to mobilise 20,000 women in each constituency.
Speaking on behalf of the 40 female chief executives appointed by President Tinubu, the Director-General of the National Identity Management Commission, Bisoye Coker-Odusote, commended the President for appointing more women to leadership positions.
She urged women to mobilise voters for the APC while advocating greater representation of women in government at federal and sub-national levels.
The inauguration brings together the APC’s women leadership, government officials and political actors in a nationwide grassroots mobilisation network as the party intensifies preparations for the 2027 elections.
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