All Progressives Congress (APC) women politicians in Kwara State on Wednesday inaugurated Female Aspirants Group to mobilise support for more women into the race for elective offices ahead of the 2027 general elections.
The group’s convener and Director General, Northern Progressive Women Group (NPWG) for Asiwaju, Ambassador Zainab Damilola, said: “The president Bola Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda is opening doors for women politically and socially,” urging them to take advantage of the opportunities.
Damilola said the group will encourage women to work together and mobilise support for female aspirants for them to reap the benefits of President Tinubu’s Renewed Hope agenda, which she said has “reformed many homes.”
“The Kwara female aspirants group seeks to mentor and mobilise women across the 16 local government areas of Kwara state, strengthen solidarity amongst female aspirants, and complement government efforts at implementing the renewed hope vision of President Bola Tinubu,” she said.
She commended Governor AbdulRaman AbsulRazaq for maintaining 35 per cent women’s representation in governance, an achievement appreciated as a national benchmark and described the “proposed reserved seats for women in the National Assembly as a visionary step toward sustainable representation”.
She said: “We are not here to compete but to complement; not to divide but to develop; not to be seen but to serve.”
She reaffirmed the group’s commitment to building a future where women are not only part of the story but “actively shaping the story of Kwara and Nigeria”.
Also speaking, an aspirant, Mrs Hauwa Bashir, said that considering women for elective office is not a favour but a right.
“It shouldn’t be seen as a favour when we are given a position; it’s our right,” she said
She said women are qualified to seek elective offices because they play the most active roles in the electoral processes.
Inaugurating the group, the first lady of the state, Ambassador Olufolake AbdulRazaq, represented by the commissioner for social development, Nana Fatima, urged women to work towards ensuring the sustenance of the bar of leadership raised for women by Governor AbdulRaman AbdulRazaq beyond his tenure.
Kwara Women Trained to Contest 2027 Elections
Recall that last month, no fewer than 40 female political aspirants from across Kwara State completed a three-day training aimed at preparing them for the 2027 general elections.
The programme, themed “From Foot Soldiers to Front Runners,” was organised by the Women Environment and Youth Development Initiative (WOYODEV) in partnership with UN Women and with funding from the European Union.
The training took place in Ilorin from Monday to Wednesday and brought together participants from six political parties, including representatives from Baruten, Kaiama, Patigi, Edu, Ekiti, and other areas of the state.
The organisers encouraged participants to familiarise themselves with the structures and processes of political parties in order to position themselves as potential candidates.
On the sidelines of the training, WOYODEV Executive Director Tosin Apiriola-Ajayi said the programme forms part of a broader initiative across three states. “In total, we are training 120 selected across the three states. So, for each state, we are training 40. In Kwara, we have 40 women for the training for the next three days. We had about six political parties in attendance,” she said.
