Leke Abejide, a member of the House of Representatives, from Kogi State has launched a N500 million interest-free empowerment scheme for women and widows in Kano State, while urging beneficiaries to mobilise political support for President Bola Tinubu and Governor Abba Kabir Yusuf ahead of the 2027 general election.
The programme, which combines financial assistance, business support and political mobilisation, is targeted at women from Yoruba-speaking communities and other ethnic groups with historical ties to Kogi State living in Kano.
Speaking at the Yoruba Political Mobilisation and Empowerment Programme in Kano on Saturday, Abejide said the initiative was part of his commitment to reciprocating the support and opportunities he received from the commercial city after arriving there in February 1993.
He explained that the N500 million facility would be disbursed as interest-free loans to women organised into cooperative societies, with the amount allocated to individual beneficiaries determined by the scale and needs of their businesses.
According to him, the revolving-loan arrangement is designed to ensure sustainability, allowing other women to access the facility as previous beneficiaries repay their loans.
Abejide said the scheme covered women from Lagos, Oyo, Ogun, Osun, Ondo, Ekiti, Kogi and Kwara States, as well as Ebira, Igala and Bassa communities from Kogi State residing in Kano.
He added that widows captured under the programme would receive direct financial assistance through their bank accounts to support their petty businesses.
The lawmaker warned against diverting the funds to personal consumption, saying the foundation had put monitoring mechanisms in place to ensure that the money was used for the intended business purposes and to minimise loan defaults.
He described the programme as a continuing economic intervention rather than a one-off political gesture, promising that the foundation would extend similar support to youths and men, particularly unemployed young people seeking opportunities to become self-reliant.
Abejide said the foundation had already compiled names of prospective beneficiaries ahead of the next phase.
However, the empowerment programme also carried a clear political mobilisation component, with the lawmaker urging beneficiaries and the wider Yoruba community in Kano to support Tinubu, Yusuf and other candidates of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the next general election.
He disclosed that arrangements were being made to appoint polling-unit coordinators among women and widows participating in the programme to strengthen grassroots political mobilisation.
Abejide expressed dissatisfaction with the votes recorded by Tinubu in Kano during the 2023 presidential election, saying the outcome had motivated him to intensify efforts to mobilise Yoruba residents and other communities for the president’s re-election.
He also pledged to mobilise support for APC candidates contesting senatorial, House of Representatives and State House of Assembly seats.
The lawmaker, who described himself as the Asiwaju of the Yoruba people in Kano, said the intervention had also helped bring different Yoruba associations together, promoting unity among groups that previously operated independently.
He cited the foundation’s activities in Kogi State, including free West African Examinations Council registration for more than 50,000 students and support for about 10,000 widows, as evidence of its record in community development.
In the same vein, Yahaya Bello, former Kogi State Governor, who also spoke at the event, called on non-indigenous communities in Kano to translate their population and economic contributions into stronger political participation.
Bello said the 2023 presidential election demonstrated the electoral influence of non-indigenous communities in Kano, but argued that their political mobilisation needed to be strengthened ahead of 2027.
He challenged Abejide and community leaders to mobilise at least two million votes for Tinubu in Kano, extending the campaign to all APC candidates across the state.
The former governor also defended the Tinubu administration’s infrastructure record, citing the ongoing rehabilitation and construction of the Kano-Abuja Federal Highway as evidence of the Federal Government’s commitment to development.
Bello said he had recently sent someone to assess the progress of the highway project, expressing satisfaction with the quality of work and the improvements in road travel.
He further argued that the number of kilometres of roads being constructed in Northern Nigeria was higher than those recorded in the southern part of the country.
On the question of political power rotation, Bello urged Nigerians, particularly people in the North, to support political stability, arguing that Tinubu should be allowed to complete his constitutionally permitted eight-year tenure.
He questioned whether the president should be expected to relinquish power to the North before completing two terms, noting that former President Muhammadu Buhari had governed for eight years before Tinubu assumed office.
Bello also praised Yusuf’s administration, saying he observed positive changes in Kano during his visit, including improvements at the Government House and the general appearance of the city.
The programme highlights the growing intersection between economic empowerment initiatives and political mobilisation as politicians and political groups begin positioning themselves ahead of the 2027 general election.
While the N500 million scheme could provide financial relief and business opportunities for women and widows, its explicit linkage to electoral mobilisation also raises questions about the distinction between sustainable economic empowerment and the use of welfare interventions to build political support.
The presentation of the empowerment items, was performed by Kano state, Governor Abba Kabir Yusuf.
The items presented to beneficiaries received rice and six yards of printed wax fabric as part of the intervention.
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