The National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress, Prof. Nentawe Yilwatda, on Saturday dismissed concerns over recent opposition realignments ahead of the 2027 general elections, insisting that rival political parties pose no threat to the ruling APC.
Yilwatda, who is the chairman of the Governors’ Screening Committee, spoke in Abuja while fielding questions from journalists during the ongoing screening exercise for APC governors.
He was reacting to the decision of the Nigeria Democratic Congress to zone its presidential ticket to the South ahead of the 2027 elections.
But the APC chairman said the ruling party was not disturbed by the development, arguing that opposition parties were currently preoccupied with internal battles.
“Why should we be afraid? If you look at it now, the fight is not between APC and ADC or within our political party, but ADC versus NDC,” he said.
According to him, recent political developments had vindicated the APC’s position that opposition parties were more focused on fighting among themselves.
“So we’ve been vindicated when people say APC was fighting opposition. Now everybody has seen clearly that it is the opposition fighting themselves,” he stated.
Yilwatda also dismissed suggestions that the opposition had gained significant ground politically, citing the outcome of recent by-elections.
“All the by-elections, ADC has won none. In other by-elections, NDC has won none. The major opposition we have is actually PDP,” he said.
The APC chairman further argued that even the Peoples Democratic Party had not performed strongly in recent elections.
“And even the PDP has not done very well in terms of electoral performance. Performance is not on TV, it is not on radio; it is on the field during elections,” he added.
Reacting to claims that the NDC had recorded a surge in the number of lawmakers joining the party, Yilwatda downplayed the development.
“Who are the members? What number are you talking about? Seventeen legislators. We have over 400 legislators. Compared to 17, it is just a meagre number,” he stated.
He maintained that the APC remained the strongest political party in the country with 31 governors and over 600 local government chairmen nationwide.
“APC is the most prepared and most outstanding political party that can face anybody. I have not seen a party that can give us a headache,” he said.
On the absence of some governors, including the Rivers State governor, from the ongoing screening exercise, Yilwatda questioned why attention was focused on one governor when others were also absent.
“Why are you singling one governor out of many? The governor of Kwara has not come also. So three governors have not come,” he said.
He explained that the governors had informed the party about their official engagements and would appear before the screening committee when convenient.
“We know they are chief executives of their states and have state issues to attend to. Anytime they are free, they can appear before the screening committee and be screened,” he added.
