…Urges Them To ‘Fear No Foe’
The wife of former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, Titi Abubakar, has charged Nigerian women to resist intimidation and fear ahead of the 2027 general election, urging them to defend their votes and exercise their civic rights without fear.
Speaking at a women’s political gathering in Abuja on Wednesday, Mrs Abubakar declared that no politician should be allowed to scare women away from participating in the electoral process.
“Women, you should not be shy. Don’t let anybody intimidate you. Don’t allow them to come and tell you or to scare you away. It is democracy. Democracy is for the people and by the people. So, we have to take it,” she said.
She urged women to draw courage from the pains they endure during pregnancy and childbirth, insisting that they should not be frightened by political intimidation.
“This stomach that we use in carrying our children for nine months, we should not be afraid of them, even if they come intimidating you,” she said.
“I say you should be fearless. Fear no foe. Nobody will come after you. It is our right.”
Mrs Abubakar whose husband is the presidential candidate of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), also warned women against allowing economic hardship to make them surrender their votes for temporary relief, particularly during election campaigns.
She alleged that voters in rural communities were sometimes offered cash or food in exchange for their voter cards or support.
“They will go there, they collect their cards and give them money. Because of hunger, they will collect their cards and give them N2,000 or N1,000 or give them rice,” she said.
“But this rice they are giving, how long is it going to last? Even if they give you N50,000, how long is this N50,000 going to last?”
She said the worsening cost of living, high petrol and medicine prices and the inability of many families to keep their children in school should motivate women to participate actively in deciding the country’s political future.
Mrs Abubakar urged the women to take the campaign against intimidation to communities across the country and mobilise voters to the polling booths.
“Go there and fight for your rights. Go there and fight for your children. Go there and fight for a generation yet unborn,” she said, warning that failure to act could have consequences for future generations.
“If we don’t do this, the generation is coming, it will be a curse on us. They will not allow us to lay in our grave in peace,” she said.
The former vice president’s wife urged women to mobilise other women, youths, family members and friends to participate in the election.
“Women, it is your turn. It is your right. Bring them to the polling booth. Let them come and exercise their rights. It is our civic rights,” she said.
She appealed to women to overcome fear and take advantage of their numerical strength in the electoral process.
“Women, arise and shine. Because this is an opportunity for women, and we have to make the best use of this opportunity.”
