2023: APC Women Campaign Council Assures Of Equity, Empowerment

The All Progressives Congress (APC) Women Presidential Campaign Council has urged Nigerian women across the country to protect and accelerate the victories recorded thus far in the quest for equity and meaningful empowerment by supporting the emergence of Asiwaju Bola Tinubu and the APC at the polls next year.

The appeal was contained in an address delivered by Dr Asabe Vilita Bashir, the National Coordinator of the women’s campaign team, on Tuesday at the inauguration of the leadership of the Progressive Sisters’ Network (PSN) and the launch of its Sister-to-Sister campaign.

The Progressive Sisters’ Network led by ‘Rinsola Abiola, a prominent politician and gender advocate, is a national women-led and focused organisation which seeks to mobilise women’s votes through extensive, grassroots-focused voter mobilisation projects and via specialised communication tools and platforms.

Dr Asabe Bashir, in her goodwill address, highlighted the incumbent administration’s productive commitment to the protection of women’s rights and empowerment, including through “landmark affirmative policies and actions that guarantee the inclusion of women and unprecedented social and education investment programs that prioritize women empowerment and the development of the girl-child.”

She expressed confidence that Bola Tinubu will build on the progress made and accelerate the attainment of equity goals given his antecedents as the former Governor of Lagos when, according to her, “he backed and pursued several policies and government investments that enabled the rise of women in various fields and life endeavours.”

She charged the group to communicate these to women across the country through its Sister-to-Sister campaign, adding that “women must come together, on the same progressive agenda, and ensure that Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu is sworn in as the country’s next President.”

On her part, ‘Rinsola Abiola, the National Coordinator of PSN, said the group’s foremost aim was to “contribute our quota to mobilising women’s votes for our father, leader and presidential candidate, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, and his running mate, Senator Kashim Shettima.”

She said: “as the name suggests, our Sister-to-Sister campaign is geared at mobilising fellow women by engaging them extensively on the many reasons why Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu should be their preferred presidential candidate.”

“Our message is simple: the Tinubu/Shettima ticket presents the greatest hope of equity for Nigerian women, and this assertion is backed by the public service track records of both men.”

The PSN will execute its nationwide campaign with a star crew of zonal and state officers including Samira Saddieq, the Deputy National Coordinator; Aisha Augie, North-West Zonal Coordinator; Hauwa Sani Magaji, North-East Zonal Coordinator; Abiodun Essiet, North-Central Zonal Coordinator; Funmilola Onamusi, South-West Zonal Coordinator; Lady Giddalti A Reginald-Okun, South-South Zonal Coordinator; and Chief Mrs Amaka Brown-Ajuzie Sarah Ogbu, South-East Zonal Coordinator.

The event was attended by prominent women political figures and other leaders of the All Progressives Congress including Stella Okotete, former National Women Leader of the APC and Executive Director at NEXIM Bank, Babajide Akeredolu, the DG of Ondo State Performance and Project Monitoring Implementation Unit (PPIMU), Bisi Ogungbemi, a former Special Assistant to the President, Ismaeel Ahmed, Senior Special Assistant to the President and former APC National Youth Leader, and Safaa Adam, a prominent woman in the party’s pro-Tinubu movement.