Wife of Lagos State Governor, Dr. Ibijoke Sanwo-Olu, yesterday led the Committee of Wives of Lagos State Officials (COWLSO) to meet the candidates of All Progressives Congress (APC). She declared their readiness to mobilise voters and participate in the 2027 general election.
Speaking during the visit to the Campaign Office in GRA, Ikeja, to meet Lagos State Deputy Governor and APC governorship candidate, Dr. Kadri Obafemi Hamzat, accompanied by his running mate, Princess Damilola Sonayon-James, Mrs Sanwo-Olu urged the women to come out en masse to vote for APC candidates, noting their important roles in the development and growth of the state.
She said Lagos women were in support of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and Dr. Hamzat.
Said she: The committee is ready and committed to delivering the party’s mandate by participating in the electoral process and mobilising voters to their polling units.
‘We need to prove to our President that we are not just delivering one million votes; we are also going to do more. Let us ensure President Tinubu comes back to power. So, if we women want more seats, we need to work by voting and making sure we deliver all polling units for our party.’
Mrs Sanwo-Olu said the forthcoming election was an opportunity to advance development and infrastructure across the country and Lagos State, adding that Tinubu and Hamzat had the experience and capacity to provide purposeful leadership and drive further development.
Addressing the gathering, Dr. Hamzat said supporters must come out in large numbers to vote for APC candidates.
‘We should go out to get people to vote because if we say we are standing on a mandate, we must be able to come out to vote and show that we are really standing on that mandate. We must involve our children and get our families, neighbours and associates to also vote,’ he said.
He urged COWLSO members to communicate the achievements of the APC-led administrations at the federal and state levels to the electorate, saying the women had an important role to play in taking the government’s programmes and initiatives to their families, communities and workplaces.
Citing the outcome of the 2023 general election, the deputy governor said APC had re-strategised and ensured more people were involved in the electoral process within their localities.
He said Lagos APC was targeting 50 per cent of registered voters to support its candidates, noting that continuity could only be achieved when people turned out to vote.
The deputy governor stressed the importance of political leadership and participation, saying: ‘For me, if you want to be the President of a country and you cannot lead a political system, then you cannot manage Nigeria.’
He said the campaign would be based on grassroots mobilisation, increased voter participation and communicating the achievements of the party’s administrations to the electorate.
Princess Sonayon-James appealed to women to support, guide and pray for Dr. Hamzat, as the campaign gathers momentum ahead of the 2027 general election.
She said the APC ticket represented a bridge between generations, combining Hamzat’s public service experience and institutional knowledge with the energy and aspirations of younger people. She described women as a critical force in shaping the future of Lagos.
‘Together, we can mobilise. We can mobilise and ensure our President goes back a second time to finish the good work he started for our dear nation,’ Sonayon-James said.
The Director-General of the PBAT-KOH 2027 Campaign Council, Senator Musiliu Obanikoro, urged women to leverage their influence in their families and communities to mobilise young voters ahead of the 2027 Lagos State governorship election, noting that voters aged between 18 and 35 constituted a significant proportion of the electorate, making women an important link in reaching and engaging the younger generation.
He appealed to the women to make young people the focus of their conversations and activities, stressing that their engagement would be vital to the campaign’s grassroots mobilisation efforts.
The APC Chairman in Lagos State, Cornelius Ojelabi, commended the women for publicly identifying with the party and advised them to intensify grassroots mobilisation ahead of the 2027 elections.
He described the mobilisation of support for the party and its candidates as a collective responsibility, saying the women had an important role to play in communicating the achievements of the President Tinubu administration, Lagos State Government and the councils to the electorate. ‘Let us go out to propagate the achievements of this particular administration, what the Governor of Lagos State has done in the state, what our council chairmen have done. The job is a collective responsibility, so that Nigeria can be better for all of us,’ he said.
Earlier in her goodwill message, former Vice Chancellor, Lagos State University, Ojo/Member COWLSO, Prof. Ibiyemi Olatunji-Bello, pledged Lagos women support for the party’s candidates, from President Tinubu and Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu to other APC candidates across the state, urging members to intensify grassroots mobilisation and house-to-house campaigns ahead of the forthcoming elections.
She called on COWLSO members to take the APC message to their families, neighbours, markets, workplaces and communities, stressing the need for participation in the electoral process.