Nigeria’s First Lady, Senator Oluremi Tinubu, has flagged off the South-East Women Mega Empowerment Programme and the All Progressives Congress (APC) Women Mobilisation Directorate’s campaign across the six geopolitical zones.

The event, held on Saturday at Okpara Square in Enugu, attracted women leaders and party members from Abia, Anambra, Ebonyi, Enugu and Imo states, alongside political office holders and other dignitaries.

The programme featured the distribution of empowerment equipment, including sewing machines, food processors, electricity generating sets and popcorn machines, to support women in establishing and expanding small businesses.

Addressing the gathering, Mrs Tinubu conveyed President Bola Tinubu’s goodwill message and urged Nigerians not to lose confidence in the administration’s economic reforms, saying the country was moving towards prosperity.

She compared the difficult period associated with the reforms to the pains of childbirth, adding that the country was approaching a period of economic improvement.

The First Lady also announced plans to provide ₦200,000 business grants to 750 women in Enugu State. She said the intervention would be implemented through APC senatorial candidates, with each of the three senatorial districts expected to have 250 beneficiaries.

She further announced a separate empowerment initiative for elderly residents, scheduled for December 17, with 750 beneficiaries across the state’s three senatorial districts. The programme is expected to cover persons aged 65 and above.

Enugu State Governor, Peter Mbah, said the rally was designed to empower more than 5,000 women across the South-East. He added that the First Lady’s office had supported more than 2,000 women in Enugu within the preceding 48 hours through financial assistance, payment of hospital bills and provision of business equipment.

Mbah said the initiative was intended to help women become wealth creators rather than depend on periodic financial handouts. He also linked the state’s development projects to increased resources available through federal allocations.

The governor urged women and other residents of the region to participate in the 2027 general elections and support President Tinubu’s re-election bid.

Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Benjamin Kalu, also called on the South-East to support the President’s second-term ambition. He said the region should seek an eight-year presidential tenure when it eventually produces a Nigerian president.

Governors Hope Uzodimma of Imo and Francis Nwifuru of Ebonyi, as well as Anambra State Deputy Governor Onyekachukwu Ibezim, attended the event. The governors expressed support for Tinubu’s re-election, with Uzodimma citing increased federal allocations as an opportunity for states to execute development projects.

The rally also marked the launch of the APC Women Mobilisation Directorate’s activities across the six geopolitical zones ahead of the 2027 elections.

Other dignitaries included Vice-President’s wife, Nana Shettima; wife of the Senate President, Uloma Akpabio; Minister of Women Affairs and Social Development, Imaan Sulaiman-Ibrahim; and Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Doris Uzoka-Anite.