Concerned APC Women Raise Alarm Over Marginalization, Say Fear Of Contempt Silencing Critics (+Video)

The Concerned APC Diaspora Women/Observers has broken its silence over what it describes as a deeply troubling and divisive move by the APC National Woman Leader, Dr. Mary Alile Idele, following the inauguration of a new women’s support group, The Tinubu Torch Bearers (TTB), on 3rd June, 2026.

In a hard-hitting statement, the group revealed that many party women who ought to speak out against the development have been silenced by fear of being held in contempt by the National Woman Leader.

The group, however, declared that it could no longer remain silent in the face of growing marginalization and potential electoral disaster, where threats are already emerging that potential voters may be considering directing their loyalty to other parties where they are more likely to be adequately recognized.

Speaking on behalf of the group, Aisha Wadi Garba delivered a passionate rebuke of the National Woman Leader’s approach, offering a stark contrast between the party’s established grassroots women and the newly inaugurated group.

“For years, we have been the silent engines of the APC’s success at the grassroots. We go from house to house, market to market, churches to churches , Mosques to Mosques , villages to villages , mountains to mountains and creeks to creeks. We know the people and they know us. We have decades of standing relationships with them/their families and share their struggles.

Yet, instead of empowering us, the National Woman Leader chooses to inaugurate a new group, sidelining the very women who have blood, sweat, and tears invested in this party,” Garba stated.

She continued, drawing a sharp distinction between authentic grassroots mobilization and the perceived superficiality of the new initiative: “The Tinubu Torch Bearers may have banners and a launch ceremony, but do they have the decades-old trust of rural women? Do they know the names of the polling unit leaders in remote communities? We think not”.

Garba further stated that a formal letter detailing all their grievances has already been submitted to the National Leadership of the APC, but no meaningful action has been taken so far. “We wrote to the party. We followed due process. But silence is not an acceptable response when the unity of our great party is at stake,” the statement concluded.

According to the Concerned APC Diaspora Women/Observers, the establishment of The Tinubu Torch Bearers raises fundamental questions about the National Woman Leader’s motives. They noted that the APC already has numerous functional women’s support groups and NGOs, all of whom have been effectively mobilizing for the party over the years.

Aisha Wadi Garba added that why did the women leader not ensure that the First Lady was the MOTHER OF THE DAY during the inauguration of the APC Women Support Groups/NGOs as planned, this remains a big question. “Why now set up The Tinubu Torch Bearers and practically place all other existing women support groups/NGOs under its umbrella?” the group asked rhetorically.

The group alleged that while some state women leaders were coopted into the structure to capture the attention of the First Lady, The Tinubu Torch Bearers remains the sole brainchild of the National Woman Leader. “This is not a collective decision of the party’s women’s wing. It is a personal project designed to consolidate power and visibility around Dr. Mary Alile Idele, not to strengthen the APC,” the statement read.

The group also raised serious concerns about the use of the National Woman Leader’s office for personal and cronyistic purposes, citing the example of a planned trip to Europe. “The real mobilizers — the women who have spent years building the party from nothing in remote villages and wards before her arrival into the APC family just a few years from Edo PDP— are being completely sidelined,” Garba added.

The Concerned APC Diaspora Women appealed directly to the National Leader of the party, Prof. Nentawe Yilwatda, to urgently intervene before the situation spirals out of control. “We appeal to Prof. Nentawe Yilwatda to step in immediately. Dr. Mary Alile Idele must be directed to carry all existing women support groups along — not suppress them under a single, personally controlled structure. If this continues, the party will suffer severe destabilization at the grassroots level, and ultimately, the loss of votes,” the group warned.

They stated that when you ignore grassroots women mobilizers, you ignore the voters, and when you sideline them, you hand victory to the opposition.