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From Romanus Ugwu, Abuja
Former Governor of Plateau State, Simon Lalong, has claimed that the election experiences acquired by the National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Nentawe Goshwe Yilwatda, with the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) would be an added advantage to the ruling party in winning elections.
Lalong made the claims when he led some Plateau State APC stakeholders on a visit to the national chairman at the party’s national headquarters, Abuja, yesterday.
Speaking on the sidelines with newsmen on what the national chairman will be bringing on board, Lalong said: “He has known the act of election because he has conducted several elections in Nigeria. When you talk about a party, you are talking about the election. What is it about elections that an electoral officer does not know? If he knows, it is an added advantage to this party.”
Exalting Yilwatda, who worked as the Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) for Benue State, Lalong maintained that the APC boss has rich credentials to pilot the party to success.
“Well, you heard what we said. I can’t say that he is a new person. This is somebody who had gone from REC. He was a REC for four years in Benue, after that he was an aspirant and became a candidate of the party. It is not easy to get nominated as a candidate of the party. After becoming the candidate of the party, he became a Minister of the Federal Republic.
“At the humanitarian ministry, he was already in humanitarian work when the issue of the national chairmanship came up. Anybody placed in that kind of position, rising to the level of the national chairman, you won’t say that he is a new person in politics again. He has been part of the executive. He has also been part of the executive working with Mr. President,” he said.
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The former Plateau Governor also dismissed the opposition coalition under the African Democratic Congress (ADC), insisting that they cannot pose any threat to the re-election of President Bola Tinubu, insisting that they cannot use the trick used by the APC to win the party.
While commenting on the coalition, he said: “If I tell you a secret. I said it would be difficult for people to say you use one trick in overcoming a government and you are using that same trick in overcoming the same party.
“Those were the tricks we used in overthrowing past governments and we brought in late President Muhammadu Buhari. After Buhari, we brought in President Tinubu. To say that within that cycle, some people are attempting to do the same thing to achieve a result is not possible.
“For me, I think it is an exercise in futility, because we were the masters. So, if you say they are our friends, yes. They are also friends of Mr. President. They are also friends of our past president. They are friends of many politicians that are in APC.
“Those are friends. But the trick will not remain the same because if we said it is like witchcraft, you used a witchcraft and then you gather, you take away somebody and you come back with the same witchcraft to take me, it wouldn’t be possible. We would have known all the secrets. So, they will not go anywhere,” the former Minister of Labour and Employment said.
He equally described the national chairman as a bridge between the old and the young, stressing that the days of having only a former governor as APC national chairman were gone.
“Now, some people will be speaking about his age and maturity. Yes, it used to be that before you become national chairman, you must be governor or former governor. Gone are the days,” he said.
