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•Says party not scared of Jonathan, dismisses ADC
From Romanus Ugwu, Abuja and Jude Owuamanam, Jos
National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Nentawe Goshwe Yilwatda, has maintained that the party may not print a single expression of interest and nomination forms for the 2027 presidential party primary despite the overwhelming endorsement given to President Bola Tinubu for the forthcoming election.
Yilwatda who spoke when he appeared on a national television programme yesterday, emphasised that his party will not stop anybody who wants to purchase the N100 million presidential nomination forms from doing so.
He also noted that the endorsement of President Tinubu will not also stop the party from conducting the primary as statutorily required by the law.
“If we already have members endorsing President Tinubu as their own preferred candidate for the 2027, the number of nomination forms printed is not the issue.
“The main thing is one person being accepted as the party’s preferred candidate by members. Even if we print one million nomination forms and only one person is going to stand for it, does it actually matter?
“If the party members overwhelmingly endorse President Tinubu as their own preferred candidate, others can pick the forms, but the members will still go for their preferred candidate.
“We saw it during the national summit when the entire critical stakeholders, including the governors, overwhelmingly endorsed the President as their sole candidate for the 2027 election.”
On whether the party will still conduct the primary at the end of the day, the former Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) responded: “Of course, we will because we all know what the Electoral Act says about conducting the primaries. It says that even if there is endorsement, and only one person is contesting, parties must conduct primaries.”
The former APC candidate for the 2023 governorship election equally dismissed any threat from the opposition, especially the coalition African Democratic Congress (ADC), stressing: “We all saw what happened during the legislative bye-elections and how they performed.
“There was no national opposition for the APC. PDP won in only one state in the South East out of the 17 constituencies, APGA won only in Anambra while NNPP won only one in Kano out of the 17 constituencies.
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“APC won in all the geographical spread. When we talk about the opposition, the question to ask is who is the leader of the opposition? Everybody in the ADC is looking for tickets unlike what happened in 2013 when APC was formed.
“There was this national leader who was not interested in the contest but aggregating all the merging political parties, investing money, intelligence and that person is President Tinubu. He actually mobilised the opposition. We don’t have such a leader in the ADC because everyone is looking for the ticket,” he defended.
Yiltwada boasted that the party was not scared of the former president, Dr. Goodluck contesting the 2027 presidential election.
He said the engine of the APC is well oiled and fully prepared to win elections, adding that no name can scare APC, be a threat or source of intimidation.
“APC is not scared of any name in Nigeria, APC is prepared to win the election. Our engines, our machinery are well oiled, prepared to win elections and win emphatically. Which party will field Jonathan? Is it ADC? Is it PDP?
“All the opposition, as they are now, are just pockets of opposition in communities and states, there’s no national opposition. In the last re-run election, none of the opposition parties could win a single seat in the north, likewise in the South-South and South-East, no political party could win in two geopolitical zones, that shows the limit of their strength.”
He commended President Bola Tinubu for his political strength and sagacity adding that the president has demonstrated maturity in his political journey hence the merger in 2014 would stand the test of time.
“When there was a coalition in 2013, people did not give Asiwaju enough credit. He played a fatherly role, he did not contest for the presidency but he was at the centre of the coalition. He did not show any interest, he brought all the candidates together, his house was the rallying point. He invested his money without looking back or asking for anything and midwifed the coalition to the end
“Today, everyone going into the coalition is looking for the ticket, no central leader, no rallying point. Nobody is prepared to sacrifice and you think the coalition will work? It is as good as dead on arrival.”
On the PDP-led administration in Plateau State, Nentawe said the government has nothing to show for the quantum of funds that had accrued to the state.
