Politics
Crisis In Opposition Self-Inflicted, Says APC National Chairman
Prof. Yilwatda stated this while speaking on a live television interview programme.
According to him, the ruling APC was not focused on fighting opposition parties, claiming that the political battle was currently between the African Democratic Congress (ADC) and the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC).
He said, “In the last three weeks, the APC has not been fighting ADC or NDC. It is NDC versus ADC or ADC versus NDC.
“Actually, I watched with fun all the insults that the ADC is raining on the NDC and the NDC is returning those fireworks on the ADC.
“I watched the videos, and I laughed. The self-implosion is in the opposition rather than in the APC.”
When asked whether he was orchestrating the crisis in the opposition, Prof. Yilwatda denied the allegation but said weakening the opposition was part of politics.
He said, “No, I can’t. But I will be happy if I can do it. That’s my job.
“If you are opposing me, should I be happy? If you oppose me because you are in the opposition, what’s my job? Of course, to stop the opposition.”
The APC chairman also said the ruling party had stronger conflict resolution mechanisms than other political parties.
According to him, the party had committees at national and state levels to resolve internal disputes arising from congresses and other activities.
Speaking on the APC membership register and the votes secured by President Bola Tinubu during the party’s presidential primary, Prof. Yilwatda said the party relied on data from the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) for its registration process.
“To register as a member of the APC, your name and primary data are sourced from NIMC. That’s the same primary data that is used across the country to open a bank account, get a driver’s licence and secure an international passport.
“So we’re the only political party that sources our primary data from NIMC. This is why people have seen the APC as one of the most politically viable and stable parties. We are a data-driven political party,” he stated.
RIVERS ADC PRIMARY: ASPIRANT REJECTS OUTCOME, ACCUSES AMAECHI OF IMPOSITION
The governorship primary of the African Democratic Congress (ADC) in Rivers State has been thrown into turmoil after aspirant Mr Allen Idaso Ezekiel-Hart rejected the outcome and accused former governor, Mr Rotimi Amaechi of imposing a candidate.
Mr Ezekiel-Hart described the exercise as a “shambolic charade” and said it had produced three separate governorship primary “winners” within the same party.
“Right now, we have three governorship candidates in one party, all thanks to Amaechi’s high-handedness,” he told journalists in Abuja on Monday.
He warned that the situation could plunge the opposition party into crisis ahead of the 2027 elections if the national leadership fails to intervene.
According to him, while the party’s timetable fixed May 23 for the primary, aspirants were informed late Friday that the exercise had been moved forward.
Mr Ezekiel-Hart said he was mobilising supporters across the 23 local government areas when fellow aspirant, Hon. Farah Dagogo, informed him that a parallel process had already been conducted.
He accused the state party chairman, Mr Chukwudi Dimkpa, of inviting only five aspirants loyal to Mr Amaechi while excluding himself and Hon. Dagogo. The arrangement, he alleged, was designed to clear the path for Dr Gabriel Pidomson, whom he described as Mr Amaechi’s preferred candidate.
He further alleged that three aspirants were persuaded to step down for Dr Pidomson in what he described as a disguised consensus arrangement, despite the party’s public stance against consensus.
Mr Ezekiel-Hart claimed Hon. Dagogo later approached him to jointly resist Mr Amaechi’s camp but asked him to publicly congratulate him as the winner.
“He told me to go on air and congratulate him, saying we are from Atiku Abubakar’s political family and should unite. I told him to stop rubbishing Atiku’s name. Atiku will not be part of this nonsense,” he said.
The aspirant said he rejected the offer and subsequently declared himself winner after Hon. Dagogo made a similar announcement.
“As it stands, Farah declared himself winner, Thompson was declared winner by the state exco, and I also declared myself winner. Three winners in one primary that never held. This cannot stand,” he said.
Mr Ezekiel-Hart accused the Rivers ADC leadership of sidelining him despite being the only aspirant who formally notified the party in writing of his intention to contest.
He also faulted Mr Amaechi for allegedly imposing candidates while demanding transparent presidential primary at the national level.
“How can someone who is demanding transparent presidential primaries at the national level turn around and impose a governorship candidate in Rivers?”, he queried.
He urged the ADC National Working Committee to nullify the exercise and either conduct a fresh primary or adopt a lawful consensus arrangement in line with the timetable of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
“The most pragmatic thing now is for the NWC to order a rescheduled primary or quickly adopt a lawful consensus option. Time is running against us,” he said.
Mr Ezekiel-Hart said he would pursue all grievances within the party’s constitution and warned Hon. Dagogo against invoking Atiku’s name to bolster his claim.
“We will exhaust every legal channel within the party. I will not rock the boat unnecessarily, but the party must recognise that I won the primaries,” he said.
Justice Peter Lifu of the Federal High Court in Abuja on Monday brushed aside the order of the Court of Appeal in Abuja which ordered him to stay proceedings in a suit that sought deregistration of the African Democratic Party (ADC), Accord Party and three others.
The Court of Appeal in a unanimous decision of a panel of three Justices had on May 22, 2026 directed the Federal High Court Judge not to proceed with the suit until an appeal pending before them and filed by Accord Party is resolved.
In a Certified True Copy Enrol Order of the Superior Court, Justices Mohammed Danjuma, Adebukola Banjoko and Oyejoju Oyewumi asked the lower Court Judge to stay proceedings until all issues on the appeal filed by the Accord Party were resolved
Governor Ademola Adeleke of Osun State had, through the Accord Party, applied to justice Lifu to join him as a defendant in the deregistration legal battle instituted by a group of former legislators.
The contention of the Osun State governor was that he had a stake in the Accord Party, being the platform he was seeking re-election in the August 15 gubernatorial poll in the state.
In his ruling, Justice Lifu on April 27 ruled against the Osun State governor, rejecting his request to be joined in the suit to defend his own position and interest.
Not satisfied with the Federal High Court decision, the Osun State governor, through his lawyer, Musibau Adetunbi (SAN), moved to the Court of Appeal in Abuja where he challenged the Justice Lifu decision to refuse to allow him join the suit.
After listening to the argument canvassed, especially that he has interest to protect as Accord Party gubernatorial candidate for Osun State governorship election, the three Justices of the Court of Appeal, unanimously directed Justice Lifu to allow them look into the grievances of the governor.
In specific terms, the Court of Appeal Justices directed Justice Lifu not to proceed further with the matter and fixed October 27 to determine the interlocutory appeal of the appellant.
However, when the certified enroll order and notice of appeal were served on Justice Peter Lifu by Mr Adetunbi (SAN), the judge rejected it on the ground that it was a ploy to arrest his judgment in the matter.
Although the judge had adjourned his judgment delivery in the matter indefinitely, he finally made a dramatic turn around on Monday and proceeded to deliver the judgment that has now proscribed the five political parties.
Actor turned politician, Mr Kenneth Okonkwo, has rejected the choice of former Rivers State Governor, Mr Rotimi Amaechi, as the running mate to Alhaji Atiku Abubakar in the 2027 presidential election on the platform of the African Democratic Congress (ADC).
In a statement on Monday, Mallam Bolaji Abdulllahi, the National Publicity Secretary of the ADC, announced the party’s choice of Mr Amaechi.
However in a statement, Mr Okonkwo said that the choice of Mr Amaechi from the South South strengthens the continued marginalization of people from the South East.
According to the former spokesperson of the Labour Party, any arrangement that would not factor a person from the South East either as president or vice president in the party is anti-Igbo.
He contended that Chief Raph Nwosu, who founded the ADC in 2005 and willingly surrendered it’s leadership to Senator David Mark did not do so to entrench Igbo marginalization in the party.
The former actor said: “I heard from the social media that ADC has picked its vice presidential candidate from the South-South. If this is true, it is unfortunate, as this will continue the crude marginalisation of the South-East.
“This geo-political zone has neither produced a president or vice president since 1999. To deny the South-East the opportunity to produce the president or vice president in the ADC in 2027, will amount to perpetuating the marginalisation.
“The ADC was founded by Ralphs Nwosu from the South-East in 2005. He made the sacrifice to give up the party in 2025 for the coalition to usher in a better Nigeria. He couldn’t have made that sacrifice to marginalise his own people.
“I did not join the coalition to assist in marginalisation of my own people further. I am of the opinion that if we made a sacrifice to give up the national chairman and the president, it will amount to unpardonable injustice to deny us the vice president in 2027.
“I joined politics to fight for a better Nigeria where no region, geo-political zone, or person will be marginalised.
“The only favour I asked Atiku Abubakar, who openly declared that he is the pathway to the presidency of the South-East, is to show it by choosing someone from the South-East to be his vice.
“If it is confirmed that he has chosen a candidate from the South-South, I wish him well. I am not favourably disposed to campaigning for any presidential ticket that does not have a person of South-East origin as president or vice in 2027”
The National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Professor Nentawe Yilwatda, on Monday said that the numerous projects being executed by President Bola Tinubu across the states in the southeast will give him upper hand over other presidential candidates during next year’s general elections.
Prof. Yilwatda stated this at the Abakaliki Township Stadium during a mega rally organized by the Ebonyi State government and Minister of Works, Senator David Umahi, during which President Tinubu and other APC candidates for the 2027 general elections were adopted.
According to the APC National Chairman, no President had done for the southeast region what President Tinubu has done for them and expressed the confidence that the president would not only win in Ebonyi State but in the entire South East.
Prof. Yilwatda also used the occasion to address growing insinuations in some quarters that Ebonyi State had been conceded to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) ahead of the 2027 general elections.
Dismissing the claim, Prof. Yilwatda said the state would not allow the PDP to win any position in the forthcoming general election.
“We will return President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and Francis Nwifuru as Governor of Ebonyi State in 2027.
“We want to return all APC senators, members of the House of Representatives and House of Assembly candidates in 2027.
“Nobody has conceded Ebonyi to the PDP. Therefore, there is no vacancy in Ebonyi State. Ebonyi PDP has no place, and there is no vacancy at all in the Government House come 2027,” the APC National Chairman declared.
He commended the people of the state for their support for President Tinubu and urged them to re-elect him in the next presidential election in appreciation of what he has done for the state and the entire South-East through infrastructural transformation and human capital development.
Governor Francis Nwifuru, who also spoke at the event, said the state had no other presidential candidate for the 2027 general elections apart from President Tinubu.
He declared that Ebonyi remained a stronghold of the APC and vowed that the party would deliver the President in the state.
Gov. Nwifuru said President Tinubu had shown exceptional commitment to the state and deserved total support for appointing Senator Umahi as Minister of Works, a role he said Senator Umahi had performed creditably.
“Ebonyi has no other presidential candidate apart from President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, and we will return him in the presidential election.
“We are standing here today to tell the whole world, especially those using the President’s name to orchestrate division and confusion in this great state, that we have only one party, and that is the APC.
“This statement became necessary because some people are going around claiming they have discussed with Mr President and that he has handed Ebonyi over to the PDP. They are also saying that Chief Nyesom Wike is their leader and that Wike said the President has given Ebonyi to him.
“Ebonyi is not for sale. We are restraining ourselves because the people are with us. Nobody should push us because we have what it takes to confront anyone trying to destabilise us.
“We want to tell Mr President that he has earned our votes. He gave us what we had never had in Eastern Nigeria — the office of the Minister of Works. And this Minister of Works is not sitting idle; he is working,” he stated.
Senator Umahi, in his remarks, said President Tinubu had done what no other President had done for Ebonyi State and the entire South-East by executing numerous projects across the state and the region.
“Ebonyi State is a one-party state under Governor Francis Ogbonna Nwifuru. We are not going to repeat the mistakes of the past.
“President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has done a lot, not just for Ebonyi State but for the entire South-East and other geopolitical zones,” he said.
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