News Investigators/ Vice-presidential candidate of African Democratic Congress (ADC), Mr Rotimi Amaechi, and the wife of the party’s presidential candidate, Titi Atiku-Abubakar, have called on women to take the lead in mobilising voters for the party.
The duo, who spoke at the ADC National Women’s League Inauguration and Unveiling of ADC Women 1-10 Votes initiative held on Wednesday in Abuja, recalled the role of women in South Africa’s apartheid struggle.
Amaechi noted the role of women in defeating the then ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), saying that they were mobilised across states and encouraged to vote during the elections.
He criticised the current economic situation, stressing that Nigerians faced hardship, poverty and difficulties in meeting basic needs, including food and school fees.
The former Rivers governor urged women, particularly in northern Nigeria, to participate actively in the elections, saying that they should mobilise support for the party from local governments through wards to individual polling units.
He assured the women and youths of presidential campaign support, promising that the party would work with them nationwide and sustain mobilisation toward electoral victory.
He also defended plans by the ADC presidential candidate to reintroduce what he described as production subsidy.
“The greatest asset you have is that the presidential candidate has said, ‘I will bring back subsidy.’ We are not saying we are putting back consumer subsidy. We say we are putting back production subsidy,” he said.
Production subsidy, according to him, means supporting local refiners by supplying crude at reduced cost to bring down the price of fuel which, he said, had affected transportation, food and other costs.
Amaechi urged wives of governors and women leaders to put pressure on their husbands to work for victory.
“If anybody tells you that men are not controlled by their wives, they are lying. My wife controls me,” he added.
He said if ADC won the presidential election, the party would also work hard to win governorship seats as well, saying that the president cannot govern without governors.
The former governor urged women to return to their states and mobilise at ward level, saying: “This one to 10 is small. If you bring 2,000 votes per ward, you are bringing 17 million votes. We have won the election,”.
Also speaking, Titi Atiku-Abubakar said many Nigerian children were out of school because rising living costs had placed severe pressure on families, urging women to act.
She appealed to women not to allow anyone to buy their votes, stating that they should educate rural communities about the importance and power of voting.
Mrs Atiku-Abubakar said politicians sometimes exploited hunger and hardship by offering money, food and other items for votes, stressing that temporary benefits could not solve problems.
She urged women to stand up for their rights, children and future generations, as decisions made today would affect generations yet unborn.
Mrs Atiku-Abubakar encouraged women to mobilise eligible voters, including children, friends and loved ones, to participate peacefully and responsibly in elections and exercise their civic rights.
She urged women to seize the opportunity to make their voices heard through democratic participation, stressing that voting remained both a civic right and responsibility.
NAN
