Mrs. Oluwatoyin Badmus, National President, Asiwaju Women Cooperative Society (AWCS) has appealed to Sen. Bola Tinubu, APC’S 2023 presidential candidate, to consider re-establishing the defunct Peoples Bank if elected as the country’s next president.
She made the appeal on Tuesday in Abuja at an event organized by the AWCS to celebrate Tinubu for emerging as APC’s presidential candidate at its June 8 Special Convention and Presidential Primary Election.
Badmus said re-establishing the defunct bank, introduced by the military administration of Gen. Ibrahim Babangida, was critical to cater to the needs of indigent women.
This, she said, was especially because it would help provide a source of funding for small-scale businesses being operated by most women at the grassroots.
She explained that most women went through the harrowing experiences before they could secure credit facilities and were always subjected to further challenges by finance houses when granted loans eventually.
“We have seen many women that secured a loan of N100,000 from a finance house and within six months the loan would have been doubled to between N200,000 and N250,000.
“Most of these women cannot pay the money and in some cases, the finance house will want to even arrest them.
“That is why we are appealing to our incoming President, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu to bring back the Peoples Bank and make it truly the Peoples’ Bank so that our women can have access to credit facilities.
“Some of our women don’t need too much to change their lives; they are not looking for a handout. They just want to be given a chance to excel in what they do,” she said.
Badmus who is also the Iyaoloja of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), also called for the opening of Food Banks in all 774 Local Government Areas of the country.
According to her, this will help to address the increasing cost of food items and provide succor for the masses, especially women in need.
Earlier, the National Matron of AWCS, Yeye Kemi Nelson, urged women to get registered with the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to acquire their Permanent Voters’ Card (PVC) ahead of the 2023 general elections.
Nelson who was represented at the event by Mrs. Omolara Alakija said to ensure Tinubu’s victory at the polls, women must come out en mass to vote.
She stressed that electoral victory was never recorded through social media or by shouting and dancing, but by voting, hence the need for them to get their PVCs.
“I have reliably gathered that INEC will extend the ongoing registration, I want to urge our women to go and get their PVCs, that is the only tool we need to help get Tinubu into office come 2023.
“The task ahead is enormous; we have won the party’s ticket; we must work hard to win the election and this is not by dancing or partying, but with our PVCs.
“So let us mobilize and educate our women and youths to go get their PVCs for us to actualize the emergence of Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu as the next president of this country,” she said.