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The All Progressives Congress (APC) has intensified its grassroots mobilisation in Jigawa State, with its Presidential Campaign Council Women Mobilisation Directorate taking the First Lady’s women empowerment initiative to markets, hospitals and communities ahead of the 2027 general elections.
The outreach, led by Dr Betta Edu, is part of efforts to strengthen the party’s engagement with women and community stakeholders while promoting programmes associated with Senator Oluremi Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Initiative.
The exercise combined economic empowerment activities, humanitarian visits and political mobilisation, with organisers seeking to connect women at the grassroots with opportunities intended to improve their livelihoods.
The development comes as political parties begin expanding their structures and strengthening community-level engagement ahead of the next general election. In Jigawa, the APC has identified women as an important part of its mobilisation strategy, particularly because of their influence in families, markets, local organisations and community networks.
According to a statement made available to PUNCH, Edu said the outreach was designed to take the First Lady’s empowerment programmes closer to women in the places where they live and conduct their businesses.
She explained that the initiative was intended to recognise women as important participants in national development and ensure that their economic concerns receive attention.
Edu said the directorate wanted to listen to women’s concerns, encourage them and connect them with opportunities that could improve their livelihoods.
The campaign council’s approach reflects an effort to combine political engagement with social and economic activities rather than relying exclusively on conventional rallies and party meetings.
During visits to markets across Jigawa, Edu and members of the directorate interacted with women traders on economic empowerment, livelihood opportunities and their participation in national development.
The delegation also visited hospitals, where members spoke with patients, offered encouragement and commended healthcare workers for their service.
The programme later culminated in an empowerment event attended by women beneficiaries and grassroots stakeholders. Some beneficiaries expressed appreciation for the initiative and pledged their support for President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, the Jigawa State Government and other APC candidates in the 2027 elections.
The participation of the beneficiaries also gave the exercise a political dimension, as the ruling party seeks to strengthen its support base ahead of the presidential, governorship and legislative contests.
Oluremi Tinubu’s empowerment initiative reaches Jigawa communities
The wife of Jigawa State Governor, Ambassador Hajiya Namadi, commended the First Lady and the APC Presidential Campaign Council Women Mobilisation Directorate for extending the empowerment initiative to communities across the state.
She described the outreach as an important demonstration of attention to women’s welfare and grassroots development, noting that women make significant contributions to their households and communities.
Hajiya Namadi said initiatives that bring government and political leadership closer to ordinary citizens can create opportunities for women to participate more actively in community development.
She also emphasised the importance of ensuring that women have a voice in decisions affecting their communities and the wider political process.
According to her, women should be encouraged to participate meaningfully in governance, contribute their experiences and take active roles in shaping the future of their communities.
Her remarks reflect one of the central messages of the outreach, which is that women’s involvement in national development should extend beyond receiving assistance to include participation in decision-making and public life.
For the APC, this approach also provides an opportunity to strengthen relationships with women across different communities in Jigawa.
Edu and her delegation subsequently intensified engagement with women leaders, traders, community stakeholders and grassroots organisations across the state.
The exercise also involved activating mobilisation structures in all 27 local government areas, giving the directorate a wider network through which it can communicate with women and coordinate political activities.
This local government structure is particularly relevant in a state where community relationships and traditional networks play important roles in political participation.
APC targets two million votes for Tinubu in Jigawa
One of the major political objectives behind the mobilisation is the APC’s stated ambition to secure two million votes for President Tinubu in Jigawa State during the 2027 general elections.
Figures provided for the outreach indicate that Jigawa has 2,867,176 registered and newly captured voters in its provisional combined register. These voters are distributed across 287 political wards and 4,522 polling units.
The size of the voter population provides an indication of why the party is investing in grassroots structures and community engagement.
With mobilisation activities extending across all 27 local government areas, the APC is seeking to establish a network capable of reaching voters at ward and polling unit levels.
The two-million-vote ambition is a political target announced by the party, not an independently verified projection of the eventual election result. Whether the target is achieved will depend on several factors, including voter participation, party organisation, campaign performance and the choices Nigerians make at the ballot box.
The APC’s mobilisation strategy also places considerable importance on women traders, community leaders and beneficiaries of empowerment programmes. These groups can help communicate political messages within their immediate communities, although their participation does not necessarily indicate the preferences of every woman or voter in the state.
The party’s approach is therefore focused on building relationships through direct engagement rather than depending solely on large political gatherings.
The Jigawa exercise also follows the inauguration of the APC’s presidential and governorship campaign council in the state on November 7, 2026.
At the inauguration in Dutse, Governor Umar Namadi was named chairman of the campaign council, while Lawan Roni was appointed its director-general.
Namadi said the integration of the presidential and governorship campaign structures was intended to improve coordination ahead of the elections.
He also expressed confidence that Jigawa would deliver two million votes for Tinubu, reinforcing the target now being pursued through the women’s mobilisation programme.
The establishment of the campaign council and the activities of the Women Mobilisation Directorate demonstrate how the APC is organising different sections of its political structure around the same electoral objective. Punch Newspapers+1
Women become a major focus of APC’s 2027 election strategy
The mobilisation in Jigawa is part of a wider effort by the APC Presidential Campaign Council to strengthen women’s participation in its preparations for the 2027 presidential election.
The directorate, under Betta Edu’s leadership and the guidance of First Lady Oluremi Tinubu, has been organising engagements across different states to expand the party’s grassroots presence.
The national mobilisation programme is designed to reach communities through women leaders, ward coordinators, traders and local organisations.
The directorate has previously announced plans to activate community structures across Nigeria’s 176,846 polling units, with activities reported in states including Jigawa, Kano, Zamfara, Kwara, Cross River, Benue, Plateau, Oyo, Ondo, Rivers and Osun.
Its strategy combines political sensitisation with messages about government programmes, particularly initiatives targeting education, women’s economic participation and household welfare.
The Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND) has also featured in the directorate’s public engagement, with APC women highlighting the availability of educational loans to eligible students as part of the administration’s social interventions.
Similarly, the Renewed Hope Initiative, associated with the First Lady, has been presented as an important part of the administration’s efforts to support women and vulnerable groups.
However, the political significance of these programmes should be distinguished from their actual outcomes. The number of beneficiaries, the value of assistance received and the long-term effects on household incomes are separate matters that require independent assessment.
For the APC, communicating these initiatives directly to communities provides an opportunity to explain the administration’s programmes while building relationships with potential voters.
The directorate has described its mobilisation approach as a nationwide effort intended to strengthen the party’s support base ahead of the next general elections. TVC News+2
Jigawa’s political importance ahead of the 2027 general elections
Jigawa is one of the states in Nigeria’s North-West geopolitical zone, where political parties are expected to invest considerable attention in voter engagement ahead of the 2027 elections.
The state’s 27 local government areas provide a substantial geographical area for political organisation, making grassroots coordination important for parties seeking to reach voters in both urban centres and rural communities.
For the APC, the mobilisation of women is one part of a broader strategy that includes campaign councils, youth groups, community organisations and political stakeholders.
The party’s efforts also come amid growing activity among groups supporting Tinubu’s second-term ambition.
In February 2026, a women-led APC support organisation known as Danmodi Mata Zallah was inaugurated in Jigawa. Its state coordinator, Hajiya Maryam Muhammad Abubakar, announced an ambition to mobilise at least 500,000 women’s votes for Tinubu and Governor Namadi.
The organisation said it had established coordinators across the state’s 27 local government areas, 287 wards and 4,522 polling units.
That earlier initiative illustrates how women-focused political mobilisation has become an established part of the APC’s organisation in Jigawa, rather than an activity limited to the latest outreach.
The new exercise led by Betta Edu provides another channel for connecting the party’s national campaign structure with local communities. The Nation Newspaper+1
What the mobilisation means for women in Jigawa
Beyond its immediate electoral objective, the outreach raises important questions about how women can participate in political and economic development in Jigawa.
Women play significant roles in the state’s trading networks, agricultural activities, family businesses and community organisations. Programmes that improve access to finance, business opportunities, education and healthcare can therefore have implications beyond individual beneficiaries.
The market visits offered the directorate an opportunity to engage directly with women involved in small-scale businesses and trading activities. These interactions can help organisers understand some of the challenges facing traders and identify areas where additional support may be needed.
The hospital visits also brought attention to healthcare workers and patients, although the report did not provide details of specific medical assistance, financial support or healthcare interventions delivered during the exercise.
For the empowerment programme to produce lasting benefits, its impact will ultimately depend on the opportunities made available to beneficiaries and whether support continues beyond individual outreach events.
There is also a wider question of women’s representation in political decision-making. Mobilising women to support candidates is different from ensuring that they have meaningful opportunities to contest elections, hold public office and influence government policies.
Hajiya Namadi’s comments on women’s participation in governance therefore added another dimension to the exercise. Her emphasis on creating opportunities for women to contribute to community development suggests that political engagement should not be limited to campaign activities.
As the 2027 elections approach, the extent to which political parties translate their promises of inclusion into practical opportunities for women will remain an important issue.
The APC’s Jigawa outreach has brought together empowerment messaging, humanitarian engagement and electoral mobilisation. Its immediate objective is to strengthen support for Tinubu and other party candidates, but the longer-term value of the initiative will also depend on whether women receive meaningful and sustained economic opportunities.
For now, the party is continuing to build its grassroots structures across Jigawa, with the two-million-vote target providing a central focus for its preparations ahead of the 2027 general elections.
