National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Prof. Nentawe Yilwatda, on Sunday described the party’s presidential primary election as a “mock demonstration” of what the 2027 general election would look like, insisting that no opposition party could match the turnout recorded during the exercise.
Yilwatda stated this during the national collation of results for the APC presidential primary election in Abuja, where President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and Hon. Stanley Osifo contested for the party’s presidential ticket.
According to him, the presidential primary climaxed a series of primaries conducted by the party beginning from the State House of Assembly, National Assembly and governorship elections.
“We started with the primary election from the House of Assembly, the National Assembly, governorship, and we climax with that of the President,” he said.
He disclosed that accreditation and voting took place across wards nationwide, while collation was carried out at local government, state and national levels.
Yilwatda explained that the APC deliberately made the exercise open and transparent by broadcasting the process live on multiple television stations and online platforms.
“We decided to make this programme live. It is on five TV stations, it is online, and I am happy that the two people representing the two aspirants are here,” he said.
The APC chairman acknowledged that there were complaints and challenges during the exercise but noted that corrections were made in consultation with representatives of the aspirants.
“It shows that APC is open when challenges arise, and mistakes were made. Corrections were done based on the suggestion of the two representatives of the two aspirants,” he added.
Speaking further, Yilwatda boasted that the massive turnout recorded during the primary election was a clear indication that the APC remained Nigeria’s dominant political party ahead of 2027.
“The APC is becoming the rallying point for all political parties. Everybody wants to be in the APC.
“The competition to be in the APC is quite high, and we see thousands of people buying our forms. It shows how our party is accepted by Nigerians and by the people.
“If you see the mass turnout yesterday in all the congresses held to nominate the president, the numbers were in their thousands, and this is just a mock demonstration of what the general election will look like,” he stated.
He dismissed allegations that some aspirants were denied a level playing field, saying political contests naturally attract disagreements because of the calibre of contestants involved.
“There is no way you can have a political contest anywhere in the world of this nature and nobody complains. In fact, if you see any political party where nobody complains about congresses or internal elections, that party is actually weak,” he said.
On controversies surrounding some viral videos allegedly showing irregular counting during the primaries, Yilwatda dismissed them as recycled and unverified clips unrelated to APC activities.
“Sometimes you see videos online. I even received a video that was sent to me, which I later found out was from an event that happened three or four years ago,” he said.
Governor Umar Bago of Niger State also defended the conduct of the primary, saying the Electoral Act had strengthened internal democracy within political parties.
“I have seen the provisions of the Electoral Act work. It has provided that either direct primaries or consensus. Where we are not able to build consensus, we have to do direct primaries,” he stated.
Bago described the presidential primary as peaceful and rancour-free across the country, adding that party members were excited about the democratic process.
Similarly, Governor Abdullahi Sule of Nasarawa State commended the organisation and security arrangements for the exercise.
“The process is going actually in line with the way well-structured organisations and well-structured parties should do. From the security that you have seen, from the movement into this, you have seen fantastic arrangement,” Sule said.
He added that the conduct of the exercise in Nasarawa State was orderly and successful, describing it as one of the best primary election processes he had witnessed.
