Reported by Ariajegbe Sylvia Esezobor
The Director of Women Mobilisation of the All Progressives Congress Presidential Campaign Council, Dr Betta Edu, has expressed confidence that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu will win the 2027 presidential election, declaring that the party’s women wing is targeting 40 million votes for the President and Vice-President Kashim Shettima and has already begun activating mobilisation structures across the country.
Edu spoke on Monday at the 2026 Pre-Inaugural Women’s Summit and Empowerment Programme held at the Bola Ahmed Tinubu International Conference Centre in Abuja. The summit, convened by the First Lady, Senator Oluremi Tinubu, was organised under the theme, “Renewed Hope Agenda 2.0: From Reforms to Prosperity – One Voice, One Movement, One Choice, One Mandate 2027.” “We are moving into the 2027 electoral season with purpose, structure, and determination. Our target is 40 million women’s votes, and we are building the organisation required to achieve it. President Tinubu will win again,” Edu said.
The mobilisation drive, she said, is being structured across the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory, extending to the 774 local government areas, wards, communities and polling units. The aim, according to her, is to build a grassroots network through which women leaders will engage communities and communicate the policies and programmes of the Tinubu administration. She said the campaign would go beyond rallies to focus on opportunities for women in enterprise, agriculture, skills development, governance and community development. “40 Million Women Votes! One Coordinated Mobilisation! One Voice, One Movement, One Mandate for 2027,” she declared, urging APC women to remain united and organised ahead of the election.
At the event, Edu led participants in a chant declaring Tinubu the winner of the 2027 presidential election. “Winner! Oh, oh, oh! Winner! Jagaban! You don win o!” she sang, drawing the First Lady, the wife of the Vice-President, the wife of the Senate President, more than 30 wives of state governors and other dignitaries to their feet as they joined the chorus and dance. Edu subsequently declared that Tinubu would remain President of Nigeria until 2031, a statement that underscored the campaign’s confidence in a second-term victory. The programme was attended by the wife of the Vice-President, Hajia Nana Shettima; the Director-General of the APC Presidential Campaign Council, Senator Abdulaziz Yari; Imo State Governor Senator Hope Uzodimma; former APC National Chairman Umar Ganduje; members of the PCC Women Mobilisation Directorate; women stakeholders from the 36 states and the FCT; support groups and civil society organisations. The event also featured the empowerment of women beneficiaries with support items, including motorbikes and farm trucks, to strengthen their livelihoods. The First Lady presented some of the items to beneficiaries and later held a closed-door meeting with female APC candidates and other dignitaries on the sidelines of the programme.
Edu’s appointment as Director of Women Mobilisation in Tinubu’s 2027 campaign council was announced in August 2026, marking a return to political prominence for the former Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation. She was suspended by President Tinubu in January 2024 following allegations involving the diversion of over N585 million in public funds into a personal bank account, a scandal that sparked widespread public outrage and prompted an investigation by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission. The EFCC has not publicly declared her guilty of any offence, and the APC has defended her appointment, arguing that she should not be prevented from participating in political activities indefinitely simply because the investigation remains unresolved. The appointment drew criticism from civil society organisations and the Peoples Democratic Party, which called for her sack and prosecution, but the ruling party has maintained that she has no conviction and is entitled to engage in politics.
The political context of the event is significant. The 2027 general elections are less than four months away, with the presidential and National Assembly elections scheduled for January 16, and the governorship and state assembly elections for February 6. President Tinubu is seeking a second term on the APC platform, while former Vice President Atiku Abubakar of the African Democratic Congress, former Anambra Governor Peter Obi of the Nigeria Democratic Congress and Oyo State Governor Seyi Makinde of the Allied Peoples Movement are among the major challengers. The APC’s decision to target 40 million women’s votes reflects a strategic recognition that women constitute a substantial portion of Nigeria’s electorate and that their mobilisation could be decisive in a closely contested election. The summit and the empowerment programme are part of a broader effort by the ruling party to consolidate its support base, particularly among women, as the campaign intensifies.
For the APC, the event represents a demonstration of organisational strength and a signal that its women’s wing is prepared for the electoral contest. For Edu, it is an opportunity to reassert her political relevance and to lead a mobilisation effort that she hopes will deliver a decisive mandate for the President. For the women who received empowerment items and those being mobilised across the country, the programme offers both material support and a platform for political participation. As Edu put it, the campaign is moving into the 2027 electoral season with purpose, structure and determination, and the target is 40 million women’s votes. The coming months will determine whether that target is achievable and whether the APC’s women’s mobilisation machinery can translate its enthusiasm into votes at the polls.
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