The First Lady is committed to the reelection of President Tinubu, writes OLAOLU JACKSON ALOWONLE
Ahead of the 2027 general elections, one figure whose influence is becoming increasingly difficult to ignore is the First Lady, Senator Oluremi Tinubu. From empowerment programmes and community engagements to high-profile political rallies, she has emerged as a prominent voice in the campaign for the re-election of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
The First Lady has demonstrated remarkable energy, conviction and political commitment in advancing the cause of her husband. Through her Renewed Hope Initiative (RHI), alongside the All Progressives Congress (APC) women’s mobilisation machinery, she has continued to reach out to mostly women, older citizens and persons with disabilities, while urging Nigerians to support the President for another term.
Her activities are not merely ceremonial appearances befitting the wife of a sitting president. They reflect a deliberate effort to combine social intervention with political mobilisation, bringing the message of the administration to communities and households across the country. Indeed, if there is a factor that the APC presidential campaign council cannot afford to underestimate, it is the Oluremi Tinubu factor.
Though the office of the First Lady is not an elected constitutional position, its occupant can wield considerable social influence and political visibility. What distinguishes Senator Oluremi Tinubu is the vigour with which she has deployed these advantages in pursuit of clearly defined objectives.
A former senator with considerable experience in public life, she understands the importance of organisation, communication and grassroots engagement. She is not simply standing beside her husband at public functions; she is taking the Renewed Hope message to different audiences and actively encouraging political participation.
Her inauguration of the APC Presidential Women Campaign Council in Abuja on October 5, 2026, offered a glimpse into the scale of her ambition. The council was designed to unify previously separate women’s support groups and coordinate mobilisation for APC candidates from the presidency to the governorships, National Assembly and state Houses of Assembly.
She also outlined plans for six zonal mega rallies, state-level campaigns and a grand finale in Abuja. Her message to the women was unequivocal: return to your communities, organise, engage voters and translate political enthusiasm into electoral support.
She continues to urge women to mobilise within their neighbourhoods and communities, stressing that the campaign must reach the grassroots rather than remain confined to political gatherings in major cities.
At the recent south-east women mega empowerment rally held at Michael Okpara Square, Enugu, on Saturday, November 1, she announced plans for ₦200,000 business grants for 750 women across the state’s three senatorial districts. Another 750 elderly persons aged 65 and above are expected to benefit from a separate empowerment programme.
Under the announced arrangement, 250 women from each senatorial district are expected to receive the business grants, with a further programme for older persons scheduled for December 17. The initiative was accompanied by the distribution of sewing machines, food processors, generating sets and popcorn machines to support small-scale enterprises.
The event attracted an impressive array of political leaders, including the wife of the Vice-President, Nana Shettima; Enugu State Governor Peter Mbah; Imo State Governor Hope Uzodimma; Ebonyi State Governor Francis Nwifuru; Anambra State Deputy Governor Onyekachukwu Ibezim; Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives Benjamin Kalu; the wife of the Senate President, Uloma Akpabio; and Minister of Women Affairs Imaan Sulaiman-Ibrahim.
Yet the political significance of the occasion extended beyond the impressive attendance.
Senator Oluremi Tinubu used the platform to, as usual, appeal for support for President Tinubu’s re-election, declaring that the country was moving beyond the difficult period associated with the administration’s economic reforms and towards prosperity.
“Don’t allow anyone to deceive you. The worst is over. We are stepping into prosperity,” she told the gathering.
Her analogy comparing the pain of economic reforms to the discomfort of childbirth was intended to communicate a central argument of the APC campaign: that difficult decisions taken at the beginning of the administration should be judged alongside their expected long-term benefits. That is a significant political contribution.
Interestingly, Enugu is not an isolated engagement. The First Lady’s activities across the federation suggest a sustained effort to build a nationwide constituency around social intervention and political support.
In September, she flagged off the distribution of empowerment items to 2,500 women across the five South-East states, while also launching a community food bank programme in Anambra State aimed at addressing child malnutrition.
Her Renewed Hope Initiative has also undertaken food outreach programmes in several states, with its intervention in Bauchi in August reported as the programme’s 29th beneficiary state. In another significant intervention, the initiative provided ₦819 million to 1,638 widows of fallen military and police personnel. These activities matter because they address issues that directly affect households: food, education, healthcare, livelihoods and the welfare of vulnerable citizens.
They also help explain why her political appeal is not restricted to the traditional structures of the APC. Women traders, farmers, artisans, students, older people and families struggling to meet basic needs are among the audiences reached by her programmes.
Her activities have also extended to the North Central, where she joined prominent political leaders at the Tinubu-Shettima grassroots mobilisation rally in Lafia, Nasarawa State, on October 10. Governors and political stakeholders from across the region attended the rally, which was organised to strengthen support for the President’s re-election.
Across these engagements, one message has remained consistent: the administration’s reforms must lead to prosperity, and the APC wants Nigerians to give President Tinubu another term to pursue that objective.
Perhaps the most compelling aspect of the First Lady’s political engagement is her focus on women. Women constitute a substantial and influential demographic of Nigeria’s electorate. They are traders, civil servants, farmers, entrepreneurs, professionals, homemakers and community organisers. Their economic experiences often shape the choices made by entire households.
The First Lady appears to understand this connection between household welfare and political consciousness. Her emphasis on business grants, skills-support equipment, educational opportunities and assistance for vulnerable groups gives her campaign a social dimension that conventional political rallies sometimes lack.
The strategy also places women at the centre of the electoral process, not merely as spectators or supporters who turn out to fill stadiums, but as organisers expected to carry political messages into their communities.
That is why the inauguration of the Presidential Women Campaign Council is significant. It seeks to transform scattered expressions of support into a coordinated network capable of reaching voters at ward, local government and state levels.
The First Lady has demonstrated that she is prepared to take responsibility for this undertaking. Her willingness to appear at rallies, address women directly and repeatedly defend her husband’s policy direction has given her an unusually prominent role in the ongoing campaign.
Among the wives of presidential candidates, she has established a formidable public presence. The combination of experience, access, organisational capacity and an active empowerment platform places her in a distinctive position.
There is another dimension to the Oluremi Tinubu factor that deserves recognition: her conviction. Political campaigns can be demanding, particularly when an administration faces criticism over the cost of living, fuel prices and the consequences of economic reforms. At such moments, the temptation for political allies is often to retreat into silence or leave others to defend the government’s record.
But the First Lady has chosen a different path. She has openly defended her husband’s decisions, expressed confidence in the administration’s direction and urged Nigerians not to abandon the promise of eventual prosperity. At the APC women’s campaign inauguration, she described the President as a leader willing to take difficult decisions and called on supporters to help build upon what she considers a foundation for future development. That is a lesson in commitment.
Importantly, vision without action remains an aspiration; conviction without consistency is easily discarded; and commitment without organisation rarely achieves its objective. Her approach combines all three with a determination to keep the administration’s message in the public conversation.
Campaigns require messengers who can connect policies with people, explain a candidate’s position and sustain enthusiasm among supporters. Senator Oluremi Tinubu has assumed that responsibility with considerable determination. Her Renewed Hope Initiative provides a social platform, while the APC Presidential Women Campaign Council supplies an organised political structure. Together, they give her an avenue to link assistance to vulnerable communities with advocacy for the administration’s second-term ambition.
The Enugu rally captures that dual role: grants and equipment intended to strengthen livelihoods on one hand, and an appeal for electoral support on the other.
For the First Lady, the stakes are undoubtedly high. She is not merely campaigning for her husband; she is helping to shape the public narrative surrounding his administration and its claim to another mandate.
For her energy, vision, conviction and unrelenting commitment to the cause she believes in, Senator Oluremi Tinubu deserves a thumbs-up.
She has shown that the office of the First Lady can be more than a ceremonial platform. It can serve as a vehicle for social intervention, public engagement, advocacy and organised political participation.
As the journey towards 2027 gathers momentum, one can only wish her well in her continuing efforts to empower Nigerians, mobilise women and advance the political cause she has so firmly embraced.
Alowonle, a development economist and political analyst, writes from Abuja, FCT.