The Director-General of the All Progressives Congress (APC) Presidential Campaign Council, Senator Abdul'aziz Abubakar Yari, has stressed the importance of women in the party's electoral structure. He made this statement at the Women Stakeholders' Mobilisation and Empowerment Pre-Inaugural Summit in Abuja, convened by the First Lady, Senator Oluremi Tinubu. The summit aimed to strengthen the APC's women mobilisation structure for the 2027 general elections. Yari urged women to sustain their mobilisation efforts from the national level down to communities and polling units.
The summit brought together APC women leaders and stakeholders from the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory, including wives of political office holders, members of the National Assembly, ministers, women support groups, and other party stakeholders. Yari expressed the Presidential Campaign Council's readiness to work with women and support their mobilisation efforts, emphasizing the need for a coordinated campaign structure. He encouraged women to remain united and take their mobilisation to the grassroots, noting that their presence at the summit demonstrated their readiness to participate actively in the 2027 electoral process.
The APC women's mobilisation effort is being structured across states, local government areas, wards, communities, and polling units, with the party seeking to build sustained grassroots engagement ahead of the elections. The First Lady, Senator Oluremi Tinubu, thanked Nigerian women for their support for President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and urged them to return to their respective states to mobilise voters for the APC. She expressed gratitude for their support and belief in the Renewed Hope Agenda.
Senator Oluremi Tinubu highlighted the theme of the summit, "Renewed Hope Agenda 2.0: From Reforms to Prosperity," which represents the emerging impact of the administration's economic reforms. She cited the stabilising economy, decreasing inflation, growing foreign reserves, and returning investors as evidence of the administration's progress. The First Lady also mentioned increased support for farmers and access to student loans by university students among the interventions of the administration.
The APC National Women Leader, Dr Mary Alile Idele, called on women to strengthen their grassroots networks and ensure that the opportunities created by government programmes reached women and families across the country. Idele described the summit as a platform for strengthening women's networks and called for coordinated action as the party prepares for the 2027 elections. She emphasized that the task before APC women extended beyond political mobilisation to ensuring that women were connected to economic and empowerment opportunities.
The Director of Women Mobilisation of the APC Presidential Campaign Council, Dr Betta Edu, announced a target of 40 million women's votes for President Tinubu and Vice-President Kashim Shettima. She stated that structures were being activated across the 36 states, the FCT, 774 local government areas, wards, communities, and polling units to achieve this goal. Edu said the mobilisation would go beyond campaign rallies to include engagement with women on enterprise, agriculture, skills development, governance, and community development.
The event also featured the empowerment of women beneficiaries with livelihood-support items, including tricycles, sewing machines, refrigerators, and agricultural implements. The summit formed part of the APC's broader effort to consolidate its women's campaign structure ahead of the 2027 elections, with the mobilisation message: "One Voice, One Movement, One Choice, One Mandate 2027." The party aims to build a strong grassroots engagement with women, which will be crucial to its electoral success in 2027.
Key points
- * Women are critical to APC's 2027 electoral success * APC targets 40 million women's votes for President Tinubu and Vice-President Kashim Shettima * The party is building a sustained grassroots engagement with women across states, local government areas, wards, communities, and polling units
