•Unveils Community Investment Fund for 40,000 businesswomen
Vice-President Kashim Shettima has called on residents of Katsina State to support President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and vote for him in the 2027 presidential election.
Shettima made the appeal on Sunday during his official visit to Katsina State, where he participated in a series of government programmes and engagements with residents and stakeholders.
Flagging off disbursement of grants to over 40,000 women under the Community Investment Fund of the Nigeria for Women Programme Scale-Up (NFWP-SU), the vice-president urged the people of the state to sustain their support for Tinubu’s administration.
The World Bank-supported NFWP-SU focused on supporting women’s economic empowerment and financial inclusion across the 34 Local Government Areas.
But Shettima, while addressing the beneficiaries in Hausa, admonished them to come out en masse to vote for President Tinubu and other candidates of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the forthcoming general election.
The vice-president, who prayed for peace, economic prosperity and unity in Nigeria, called on the electorate to participate actively in the electoral process in 2027.
“I pray for peace, economic prosperity and unity of Nigeria. Elections will soon come, come out en masse and vote for our President, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, our senators, House of Representatives and our committed Governor (Radda) and members of the state House of Assembly,” he said.
Shettima, however, said the 40,000 beneficiaries had met the prescribed eligibility conditions and demonstrated satisfactory performance in savings and group activities.
He added that the programme represented an investment in the capabilities of women, stressing that economic reforms would have little meaning if they failed to improve the earning capacity of ordinary citizens.
He said: “Small business should never be confused with small aspiration. The scale of an enterprise often tells us much more about the owner’s access to finance than about the reach of her imagination.”
He urged beneficiaries to sustain the discipline that qualified them for the programme by keeping proper financial records, making careful purchases and protecting trust within their women affinity groups.
Earlier, Governor Dikko Umaru Radda said the Community Investment Fund was designed to promote women’s empowerment, strengthen household livelihoods and advance inclusive economic development across Katsina.
He said his administration had committed itself to matching the World Bank’s support for the programme, adding that the state had contributed more than N4 billion, while another N4 billion was approved by the State Executive Council.
Radda said the programme initially commenced in Katsina, Funtua and Daura Local Government Areas, but the state government had expanded it to six additional local governments, with plans to extend support to all 34 local government areas.
He also appealed to the World Bank to provide additional financing and technical support to enable Katsina to extend the programme to more women, particularly those in underserved communities.
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