Group Empowers 200 Osun Women with Cash, Food Items, Rallies Support for APC's Oyebamiji

A socio-political group known as Peculiar Peoples Progress has empowered more than 200 women in Aiyedire Local Government Area of Osun State with food items and cash, while simultaneously rallying support for the candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Bola Oyebamiji, ahead of Saturday's governorship election in the state.

The empowerment programme was held in Ileogbo on Tuesday, where each of the beneficiaries received food items along with ₦10,000 in cash. According to the group, the gesture reflected its usual approach to reaching out to residents, particularly those it identified as genuinely in need of support within the community.

Speaking at the event, the coordinator of the group, Mrs Ige Adeyanju, explained that Oyebamiji possesses what it takes to provide good governance and drive development across Osun State. She used the occasion to describe the outreach as both a gesture of appreciation and a mobilisation effort ahead of the weekend's poll, encouraging the beneficiaries to participate actively in Saturday's election and cast their votes in favour of the APC governorship candidate.

Adeyanju said the gesture was primarily meant to appreciate the group's supporters for their continued loyalty, noting that despite various political pressures, they had remained steadfast in their backing for the party. She specifically highlighted the significance of empowering women, describing them as central to nation-building and expressing hope that the beneficiaries would extend their support to the APC candidate.

"We empowered over 200 women, and you know women are the builders of the nation. We also want them to support the APC candidate," Adeyanju said.

Beyond direct support for Oyebamiji, Adeyanju expressed confidence that the empowerment drive would help deliver the entirety of Aiyedire Local Government Area to the APC candidate, suggesting that the women reached through the programme would go on to influence their husbands, children, and other dependants to vote along similar lines.

"We are very sure that our votes would be delivered to Oyebamiji. Our leaders have been good to us, and this is the time for the payback," she added.

The empowerment programme comes just days ahead of Osun State's governorship election, scheduled for Saturday, August 15, 2026, a contest that has drawn heightened political activity and mobilisation efforts from various parties and affiliated groups across the state. Bola Oyebamiji is running as the candidate of the ruling APC in a race that has attracted significant national attention, with incumbent Governor Ademola Adeleke seeking re-election under a different political banner.

In the days leading up to the vote, Osun has seen a wave of similar grassroots mobilisation activities, including empowerment programmes, campaign rallies, and community outreach events organised by groups and individuals aligned with the various contesting parties. Such last-minute distribution of items and cash to prospective voters remains a common, though often controversial, feature of Nigerian state elections, with critics frequently raising concerns about the potential for these gestures to blur the line between genuine community support and inducement for votes, a practice generally frowned upon under Nigeria's electoral laws.

As the state braces for Saturday's poll, election observers and security agencies have also moved to tighten oversight of campaign-related activities, with reports indicating that groups such as the Amotekun Corps and other local vigilante outfits have been barred from direct involvement in election-day security operations, part of broader efforts by security agencies to maintain neutrality and order around the exercise.

For groups like Peculiar Peoples Progress, however, the focus in the campaign's final days remains squarely on shoring up grassroots support at the community level, banking on direct engagement with women and households to help swing turnout in favour of their preferred candidate when Osun voters head to the polls this weekend.