Ibekimi Oriamaja Reports
President Muhammadu Buhari has revealed how the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) can extend its winning streak in 2023.
He stated that the party must capitalize on the female population and spread campaigns to the most remote parts of the country.
He spoke at the inauguration of the Tinubu-Shettima Women Presidential Campaign Team at the Presidential Villa’s Old Banquet Hall in Abuja.
The President, who was represented by his Chief of Staff, Professor Ibrahim Gambari, also tasked the Attorney-General and Minister of Justice, as well as the Minister of Women Affairs, to collaborate with the First Lady’s Office to develop sets of legislation that can be brought before the National Assembly to ensure women receive just recognition for their contributions to society.
Speaking on how the APC could win the presidential and other elections next year, Buhari drew the attention of the audience, which included the National Chairman, Senator Abdullahi Adamu, and other party leaders, to the potentials of female voters, highlighting the sheer number of votes they cast in the previous two elections and charging the party to court the support of female voters.
“Given the strategic role women have played in APC victories, we urge you to begin organizing and mobilizing the electorate at all levels in an inclusive and cooperative manner for APC victory at the 2023 polls through the committee.”
“Today’s launch of the APC Women Presidential Campaign Committee is the most important component of the 2023 campaign.” To that end, I urge all members of this committee to accept this enormous responsibility as a mark of your selfless service to the APC.
“I am confident that this committee will propel the APC to new heights by devising and implementing a collective and inclusive party strategy to ensure APC victory in the 2023 election because there is no other option.”
“Around 3.6 million housewives voted in the presidential election in the 2015 general election.” In the 2019 general elections, this figure ranks third behind approximately 4.4 million students. Women made up 47 percent of the 84 million registered voters in the country, or nearly 40 million.
“We must continually co-opt and penetrate these demographic and voting segments.”
“The Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) recently predicted that Nigeria’s voting population for the 2023 general elections could reach 95 million.” You can imagine what that means for statisticians in the room in terms of potential votes that women could bring to the table.
“As of today, we have approximately 137 days until the Presidential and National Assembly elections, which are scheduled for February 25th, 2023.” Thirty of the 36 states in the federal government will hold gubernatorial elections on March 11th. “The committee’s mission is very clear, and time is not on your side,” he said.
The President went on to remind the campaign council and other party functionaries to work hard to reach the country’s inner recesses in canvassing for votes, warning that the real work in getting votes is not in Abuja, but in the country’s over 8,000 wards.
“As this launch takes place in Abuja, we must remember that the real war is taking place in far-flung places far from Abuja.” The task ahead is to make a case before fellow citizens on our party’s candidate articulating the vision and program for the country in over 8000 wards and 774 local governments across the country.
“The campaign, therefore, should resist the temptation to turn it into an Abuja-centric activity and instead establish the connection between the voting public and our presidential candidate, and for other candidates for offices throughout Nigeria,” he said.
Buhari noted that women had been the most supportive groups to his administration and throughout his political journey, and he urged women in the party to extend the same commitment to the party’s flag bearer and his team that they had shown him all along.
