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From Juliana Taiwo-Obalonye, Abuja
National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Nentawe Yilwatda, on Wednesday praised the party’s recently concluded primaries as the “most competitive ever in the history of Nigeria”, while thanking President Bola Tinubu for his moral and logistical support during a visit to the State House in Lagos.
Speaking after the meeting, the chairman said the scale of participation demonstrated the party’s deep penetration across the country and growing acceptance among Nigerians. “You can see how competitive our party have turned out to be. In terms of just simple demand and supply. We have few positions and we have thousands of people who have come to vote for this motion across the country. The most competitive ever in the history of Nigeria,” he said.
Yilwatda described the primaries as largely orderly and free from rancour. “I also want to thank our supporters for the disciplined approach they’ve given these processes. It’s near rancour-free, very organised, little complaints. It’s usual for people to complain in election processes, but it’s near perfect,” he said.
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On reports of disagreements in some states between consensus arrangements and calls for direct primaries, the chairman reiterated the party’s rules. “Our guidelines on consensus are clear. Our guidelines on direct primaries are also clear. Where consensus doesn’t work, you go for direct primaries. That’s what people are doing across the states,” he said, adding that consensus requires sign-off by candidates who step down for an agreed candidate before the process takes place.
Acknowledging that not all aspirants will accept results, Yilwatda said the party has internal mechanisms to handle post-primary grievances. “Definitely we’re going to have some aggrieved party members after this primary election. We have an internal conflict resolution mechanism that has prevailed over a period. We have the Presidential Conflict Resolution Committee. We have the Party Conflict Resolution Committee,” he said, stressing the party’s focus on early healing to prepare for the 2027 general elections.
He also briefed on President Tinubu’s reaction to the conduct of the primaries. “The President was very impressed with the logistics we deployed across the country, the tactics we’ve used also. He has also been very impressed with the reduced number of incidents that we have across the country. He’s happy with what we’re doing,” the chairman said, thanking Tinubu for backing the National Working Committee “to ensure that we enforce the party’s regulations to the letter.”
The chairman said the nationwide deployment of direct primaries this cycle was a significant step and indicated improvements in the party’s organisational capacity. He described the exercise as a logistical success and credited members’ discipline for limiting conflicts during the process.
