Women across the South Eastern part of Nigeria trooped out to the streets of Umuahia, Abia State capital, for a solidarity walk in support of the Presidential bid of Governor Yahaya Bello of Kogi State, on Thursday.
The women vowed to go all out to ensure Bello succeeded President Muhammadu Buhari.
The walk was tagged “One Million Women March for Yahaya Bello 2″.
The women, who are members of over 700 groups across key sectors, including Non-Governmental Organisations, Civil Society Organisations, religious, professional bodies, women in media, politics, Nollywood, market women, as well as top women entrepreneurs, among others, gathered under the umbrella of Women United for Yahaya Bello (WUYABEL).
They noted that Bello had demonstrated enough capacity in key areas of governance to make him the best for the job, adding that he was the only Governor in Nigeria that had given women the right voice in governance.
A statement from the group revealed that after the solidarity walk, the women gathered at the Abia Hotel field for a rally and gave the Kogi Governor the assurance of their support, promising to mobilise heavily for his victory in the 2023 elections.
Vice President, Nigerian Women Arise for Nigeria (NIWAFON), South-East, Mrs. Josephine Orauno, who represented the Global President, Dr. Hannatu Adeeko, said women were more united now than ever to ensure they support that one Governor who had shown to the others the real worth of women in governance.
She said, “This is the reason we are gathered here to let him know that he has the strong support of South East women, and indeed, the women of Nigeria, to go for the higher assignment of presidency. I was not actively involved in election processes before, but this time, we will go all out for Yahaya Bello.
“I’ve heard people saying some of these things are stage-managed. They should wait and see if it is organic or not. With what we would do for Yahaya Bello, I mean the Nigerian women, other Governors and leaders will no longer joke with the issue of giving women what they deserve,” she maintained.
Ogechi Obilonu, popular Nollywood actress, who led other South East Nollywood female stars, including Phil Daniels, Amaka Offor, and Faith Ononiwu, among others to the rally, said she had heard a lot about the Kogi Governor and urged women to support him in return for his belief in women.
“Anyone who supports us, we will support. His giant strides in Kogi is because he has intelligent women in the right places. He can repeat the same at the national level,” she said.
Zonal Woman Leader, South East, of the All Progressives Congress, Lolo Josephine Chukwu, who also led other party women in the zone to the rally, agreed with all the speakers, urging Nigerian women to rally round Governor Bello.
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