President Bola Tinubu’s daughter and Iyaloja-General of Nigeria, Dr Mujidat Folasade Tinubu-Ojo, has launched the Iyaloja General Movement (IGM), targeting 10 million votes for her father and the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the 2027 general election.
The movement was inaugurated on Thursday at Eagle Square, Abuja, with membership drawn largely from market women across the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory.
Tinubu-Ojo said the group had established structures across the country’s 774 local government areas and electoral wards, with coordinators and officials at state, local government and ward levels to drive its mobilisation campaign.
She said the initiative would focus on sensitising market leaders, traders and other informal-sector operators about the forthcoming elections and encouraging grassroots participation.
According to her, market women and informal-sector workers represent a significant voting bloc because of their extensive presence in communities nationwide.
“What we are putting together as market leaders is to encourage our people and sensitise them on the next election — on which direction they should follow — so that they will not derail,” she said
Tinubu-Ojo also defended her father’s economic policies, acknowledging the hardships experienced by Nigerians while arguing that the reforms would deliver long-term benefits.
“President Tinubu has done well. He has policies that will enhance the country and make our country boom again. We know what he has been doing,” she said.
Describing the economic situation as a difficult but necessary process, she likened the administration’s reforms to childbirth, saying Nigerians were experiencing the painful stages before the anticipated benefits could materialise.
“What he is doing right now is like a pregnant woman going through labour. We are labouring now. Almost all Nigerians are feeling what he is doing now. The policies are painful, but the end result will justify the means,” she added.
The Iyaloja-General also defended the removal of the petrol subsidy, arguing that the additional revenue available to the federal, state and local governments had helped them finance infrastructure projects and meet financial obligations, including workers’ salaries.
She cautioned against electing a candidate who had promised to restore the subsidy, insisting that doing so could reverse the benefits she attributed to its removal.
“We don’t want any person who will drive us back. If we vote somebody else now, that person will come with his own ideas. Somebody has said he is going to return the fuel subsidy, and we can see the impact of the fuel subsidy removal in the states,” she said.
Tinubu-Ojo further argued that the movement would strengthen the President’s grassroots support by engaging market associations and communities ahead of the 2027 polls.
The launch signals an effort to mobilise market women and informal-sector groups as political parties and their supporters begin preparations for the next general election.
