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From Romanus Ugwu, Abuja
The National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Nentawe Goshwe Yilwatda, has urged Nigerians to demand more from their state governors.
Claiming that his party is unthinkably making changes that look unreasonable to the eyes of people, Yilwatda hinged his claim on the Federal Government’s removal of the petroleum subsidy and the surpassing of World Bank predictions. He lamented that state governors and local government chairmen may not have been doing enough for the funds the Federal Government gives them to trickle down to the people.
He spoke at a book launch, *Vicious Red Circle* authored by Alex Ugochukwu Oriaku, in Abuja on Monday, October 27, 2025, emphasising that state governors are getting more than enough and should have no reason to complain. “As a political party, we in the APC like doing the unthinkable. Making changes that look unreasonable in the eyes of people, but deep within, and seated in our hearts, are things that we can make changes that can improve the lives of our people. That is at the centre of our hearts. And that is why we are working as citizens with the economy, and everybody knows the numbers are changing,” he said.
While blaming governors for the economic woes in the country, the former Minister of Humanitarian Affairs said: “The World Bank, the IMF, said we can’t grow up to three per cent GDP per annum, but we are doing 4.23 per cent now. It was predicted that by now, we can’t do more than one million barrels per day. We are doing 1.7, 1.8 million barrels per day. And I can keep giving the numbers. But these numbers must reflect on the people. They must reflect on the lives of our people. And I keep on saying the indices that matter in the lives of people go beyond the Federal Government. Primary health is at the local government. Secondary health is at the state level. Primary education is at the local government. Secondary education is at the state level,” he said.
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While shifting the blame to the governors further, Yilwatda said that governors previously getting N400 billion monthly are getting over N2.2 trillion now, urging Nigerians to talk to the governors to do more for their people. “If you feel I need to talk to the governors, please tell me. I will call their attention. And if you feel you want to have a nexus between the National Assembly and the government, not just at the national level, but even the state governments, you want to have that nexus between them, we have most of the governors. We have 24 and we are still counting. We will have more. No governor in Nigeria, we know that two years ago, what they used to share was about N400 billion per month. But today, the last they shared was N2.2 trillion. No governor in Nigeria today collects less than three times, four times what they used to collect before. None. They can do more for their people. They are focusing now on bigger projects. And to me, this is a turnaround that we need in governors. I would say, talk to your governors. Talk to your local government chairmen. Let them do more. Talk to the APC governors to do more,” he appealed.
“As a chairman of the party, I want Nigeria to do well. I want Nigeria to do better. It’s my prayer. It’s my dream that I have a party that is driving Nigeria in the right direction. To give Nigeria not just optics alone, but a reality that Nigeria is better and open,” he noted.
Explaining his motivation, the author, Ugochukwu Oriaku, said: “I did not write *Vicious Red Circle* just to add another statistic to the pile of books and materials on human trafficking. I wrote it to simply tell a sad story. I wrote it to build a bridge. A bridge of empathy between the abstract horror of a global crisis and the beating heart of a single human story. This novel follows one life, one journey—a fictional story woven from countless real, harrowing truths. It’s about the girl, Itohan, who could be your daughter’s classmate. The boy who could have been your son’s friend in the Boys’ Brigade/Boys’ Scout or played football with him. It’s about the moments of choice, coercion, and the fragile, fierce fight for survival,” he said.
