Wife of the President, Oluremi Tinubu, has flagged off the APC presidential campaign of the women’s wing in the Southeast with the empowerment of over 5000 women drawn from the five states of the region.

Items distributed to the enthusiastic women included sewing machines, grinding machines, bags of rice, among others, to enable them to be self-employed and take care of their families.

Mrs Tinubu, while performing the exercise, under the aegis of the Women Mobilisation Directorate of the APC at a crowded event at the Michael Okpara Square in Enugu, declared that it was in line with the “prosperity promise”, made by President Tinubu while campaigning for votes three years ago.

She stated that her husband had promised to bring “prosperity to Nigerians”, stressing that with the reforms graciously concluded, there was now room for Nigerians to enjoy the benefits of the painful moments.

“We have finished reforms, and we are pushing into prosperity. It is rare to be campaigning and doing empowerment at the same time. But that is in line with President Tinubu’s promise to lead Nigerians to prosperity. He is a talk and do person. This is one thing he had promised, and he is also fulfilling them “, she said.

Mrs Tinubu, who was accompanied by the wives of the Vice President, Senate President, governors of the southeast and several other women appointees, told the cheering APC women from the region that she would always protect their interests, “as long as I remain in office”.

She stated that by December, 200 other women would receive cash transfers through their lawmakers, in addition to 250 elderly women.

Mrs Tinubu said that she had visited Igboland on several occasions since her husband assumed leadership in 2023 and had taken several titles as a way to show her love for the people, assuring she would continue to maintain the relationship.

She urged the people to continue to support her husband and the party in order to sustain the gains of the reforms made so far.

Chairman, Southeast Governors’ Forum and Governor of Imo State, Hope Uzodinma, appealed to the women to uphold their support to the president and the entire APC structure.

He said that since the end of the civil war, the Igbo suffered marginalisation until Tinubu assumed office in 2023 and began the transformation of the region.

“He has provided more money that ensured we constructed roads, built bridges, provided scholarships, healthcare, water facilities, and what have you. When he came to the southeast in 2023, he promised prosperity. This is what we are seeing at the moment with the various ongoing empowerment programmes”, he said

Uzodimma urged the people of the region to reciprocate President Tinubu’s gesture by ensuring they vote APC and all it’s candidates.

He added that Mrs Tinubu had been going round the country, empowering women, paying hospital bills, among others, saying that the only way such gestures could continue was when Tinubu was voted back to office next year.

“We will vote him again. We want Nigeria to be better. I call on the Igbo in Nigeria and abroad to vote Tinubu again”, he said.

Host Governor, Peter Mbah, who described the event as “remarkable”, urged the women to translate same zest and power to their various communities.

“We have gathered to empower over 5000 women, and this is followed by the care, support, equipment and hospital bills for over 2000 women, which the first lady paid in Enugu. This is empowering women to be wealth creators. We recognise that when you empower a woman, you create employment and empower family and society.

“Because we know you want the future of your children, we want you to continue to support the president and other candidates of the APC. This president has ensured that there is more money for development and the state governors are using the money to expand healthcare, build roads, create more wealth, education for our children and employment. We have been able to do this because there is more money from the president. We have seen developments of smart schools in Enugu, roads, health care. The president has done well and we must ensure we finish the journey we started with him”, he said

Mbah urged them to disregard campaigns from other political parties, or vote for someone based on ethnicity, saying that they must be strategic and shun such calls.

Those voices telling us a different thing. We are not ethnic bigots. We are strategic. We will support all APC.

Also, Deputy Speaker, Benjamin Kalu cautioned against reported agreements about a single term of four years presidency for Igbo, urging the gathering to jettison the arrangement and continue to support Tinubu.

He stated that other zones of the country had always ruled for two terms, saying that Igbo would do their two terms “when it gets to their turn”.

To Kalu, Tinubu had demonstrated his love for the Igbo with the approval and signing into law of the Southeast Development Commission (SEDC); a commission he added eluded the zone since the end of the civil war.

” For now, our mandate is to support the man that has been supporting us. When he was governor in Lagos State, no Igboman lost property. He is ruling very well. His wife is also empowering women and his son also empowering the youths. What else do we want to see to believe that this man is indeed a great man?”, he said.