By AHMED UBANDOMA
ABUJA- President Muhammadu Buhari has expressed gratitude to Nigerian women, especially women of All Progressives Congress (APC), for their unwavering commitment and support which led the party to victory in previous elections.
Buhari disclosed this on Monday while inaugurating the Women wing of the Tinubu/Shettima Presidential Campaign team at the Banquet Hall of the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
“Our unwavering commitment to mobilising women significantly influenced our party’s victory in the 2015 and 2019 presidential elections and success could not have been achieved without the support of women of our party.
“In the 2015 elections, about 3.6 million housewives voted in the presidential election, and this figure ran the third next to about 4.4 million students in the 2019 general elections.
“ Women accounted for 47% almost 40 million of the 84 million registered voters throughout the nation and we must continue to engage this voting segment of our population,’’ he said.
Buhari therefore reminded the party`s stalwarts of the task, saying that members must close ranks to ensure APC’s success in the forthcoming elections.
“The task ahead of the Committees is very clear and time is not on your side, we must remember that the real campaign will be flung places away from Abuja.
“We must criss-cross the over 1000 electoral words and 774 local governments across the country, where party faithful will have to make a case for the fellow citizens to elect our party’s candidates.
“The campaign should therefore resist the temptation for it to be turned into an Abuja activity,’’ Buhari said.
The president also urged the APC members to consult and engage widely with Nigerians and remind them of the numerous achievements of the APC administration and the need to re-elect its candidates in the 2023 elections.
“ We must establish a connection between the voting public and our presidential candidates as well as other candidates throughout the country because that should be our ultimate objective.
“Throughout my political journey and tenure as president of Nigeria, women have remained the most loyal and supportive group in my mission for a better Nigeria.
“My administration will continue to listen to these strong voices of our women for gender equality, social inclusion and increase women participation in governance,’’ he said.
Buhari, therefore, expressed appreciation to the wife of the Vice-President, APC Governors wives and other APC women leaders for the unflinching support towards the success of the party in the previous elections. (NAN)
