A member of the House of Representatives representing Yagba Federal Constituency of Kogi State Hon. Leke Abejide has pledged to mobilise at least one million votes from Yoruba and other ethnic communities in Kano for the re-election of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and Governor Abba Kabir Yusuf in 2027.
Abejide pledged on Saturday in Kano while unveiling a N600 million empowerment programme for women and widows.
He said the intervention was his way of giving back to Kano a city he described as his home and the foundation of his success.
According to him he arrived in Kano in February 1993 as a young boy from Alu in Yagba East Local Government Area of Kogi State and the city provided him opportunities that shaped his business career.
He explained that the decision to extend the empowerment to Kano was driven by his longstanding relationship with its people many of whom he had known for over three decades.
Abejide said the programme comprises a N500 million interest-free loan scheme for women organised into cooperative societies with beneficiaries supported according to their business capacity. The remaining N100 million will cover grants and logistics for widows.
He said the scheme is a revolving sustainable economic empowerment model that will enable other women to benefit after previous beneficiaries repay.
He disclosed that the beneficiaries include women from eight Yoruba-speaking states – Lagos Oyo Ogun Osun Ondo Ekiti Kogi and Kwara – as well as Ebira Igala and Bassa communities from Kogi State residing in Kano.
Abejide assured that the programme would be continuous not a one-off political gesture and that it was intended to transform businesses and lift families out of poverty.
He added that the foundation would soon extend similar interventions to youths and men in business particularly unemployed young people to make them self-reliant.
In his remarks former Kogi State Governor Yahaya Bello said he would intensify mobilisation for President Tinubu’s re-election in 2027 targeting at least two million votes from non-indigenous communities and other stakeholders in Kano.
Bello commended peaceful coexistence among ethnic groups in Kano describing the state’s diversity and longstanding interethnic relations as assets for political mobilisation and national development.
He said that although non-indigenous communities make up a relatively small proportion of Kano’s population their political influence should not be underestimated.
According to him the communities contributed nearly 500000 votes to President Tinubu in Kano during the 2023 presidential election a figure he described as unsatisfactory.
‘In the last presidential election our voting population in Kano delivered nearly 500000 votes for President Bola Ahmed Tinubu. That performance was not satisfactory and we must do better this time.
‘The population of other ethnic groups in Kano may be relatively small compared with the indigenous population but that does not mean we should underestimate our political strength. We have a responsibility to mobilise our people and ensure that their votes count’ Bello said.