APC has 12.9 million verified members

By Lawrence Agbo

Nentawe Yilwatda has said the All Progressives Congress (APC) currently has 12.9 million verified registered members, insisting that the ruling party remains far ahead of its political rivals in terms of membership strength and organisational structure.

Speaking during an interview on ARISE News, Yilwatda said the APC’s membership figures, already submitted to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), surpass the combined totals of several opposition parties.

“We have about 12.9 million registered voters that were submitted to INEC,” he said.

According to him, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has about 2.4 million registered members, while the African Democratic Congress (ADC) has 1.6 million, the Labour Party 1.3 million, and the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC) about 700,000.

“So these are the data. If you put all these political parties together, they don’t add up to APC’s registered members,” Yilwatda stated.

The APC chairman also claimed the ruling party is the only political party in Nigeria operating a fully verified membership register through the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC).

“But even the most important thing in our own case is that we have verified data. All our data of our members are verified by NIMC,” he said.

He explained that APC membership registration follows a verification process similar to those used for bank accounts, passports and driver’s licences.

“APC is the only political party that sources data from NIMC, which means that you cannot come unverified,” he added.

Yilwatda also defended the outcome of the APC presidential primary, which produced Bola Ahmed Tinubu as the party’s candidate with nearly 10.9 million votes.

Responding to criticisms and viral videos questioning the credibility of the exercise, he dismissed the footage as misleading and inconsistent with official figures.

“People can mimic counting at any point. People can do their drama. But I work with data,” he said.

The APC chairman further denied allegations that the ruling party was interfering in the internal crises affecting opposition parties.

“The self-implosion was in the opposition,” he stated.

Yilwatda maintained that the APC remains stable despite disputes arising from its primaries, adding that the party deliberately delayed final declarations in some contests to allow appeal committees review petitions before winners are officially confirmed.

He also credited President Tinubu with playing a major role in stabilising and strengthening the APC since its formation in 2013.