The Director of Women Mobilisation of the All Progressives Congress Presidential Campaign Council, Dr Betta Edu, has expressed optimism that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu could make history by giving a woman the opportunity to serve as Nigeria’s vice president.
Edu made the projection while speaking on the need for greater inclusion of women in political leadership and governance, amid intensified mobilisation by APC women ahead of the 2027 presidential election.
She said Tinubu was known for supporting the empowerment of women and expressed confidence that he could take the issue of female representation to another level before the end of his political career.
“He is definitely known for empowering women. I am almost certain that, by the grace of God, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu would want to make that history in Nigeria by giving power to women and giving a woman that seat as a vice president before he leaves,” Edu said.
The comment comes against the backdrop of an ongoing APC women mobilisation campaign ahead of the 2027 election. Edu, who was appointed Director of Women Mobilisation in the party’s Presidential Campaign Council in August, has been leading efforts to strengthen the party’s grassroots structures and mobilise women across the country.
The directorate recently announced a target of 40 million women’s votes for the Tinubu-Shettima ticket and has been organising community and door-to-door mobilisation across the country. The campaign structure is also preparing for a national women stakeholders’ summit in Abuja convened by First Lady Oluremi Tinubu.
Edu has also used recent engagements to highlight programmes of the Tinubu administration which she said could benefit women, including initiatives in agriculture, enterprise, energy, skills development and social investment.
In an Independence Day message, she urged women to identify available government programmes and take advantage of them, while announcing plans for intensified community-level sensitisation to ensure women and households have access to information about the opportunities.
Her latest remarks have therefore placed the question of female representation at the highest levels of Nigeria’s political leadership within the wider conversation around the 2027 election.
As of the latest campaign reports, however, Tinubu and Vice-President Kashim Shettima remain the APC ticket for the 2027 presidential election. Edu’s suggestion of a woman occupying the vice-presidential position is consequently presented as her expectation rather than an announced change to the ticket.
The comment also comes at a time when the APC is placing increased emphasis on women’s political participation, with the party’s women mobilisation structure expanding its grassroots engagements ahead of the general elections.
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