The national chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Prof. Nentawe Yilwatda, has disclosed that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu expressed satisfaction with the party's ongoing primary elections across Nigeria. Yilwatda shared this after a meeting with Tinubu in Lagos state on Wednesday night, May 20, 2026.
APC Primaries: A Competitive Process
Yilwatda explained that the ruling party's recent internal processes highlight its competitive nature, with many candidates vying for limited positions. He noted that the exercises were conducted with discipline, resulting in minimal complaints and achieving near-perfect execution.
President's Directive for Improvement
According to Yilwatda, President Tinubu directed the party to enhance its primary election process. The APC chairman stated: “You know this is the first time that we are deploying nationwide direct primaries, almost as if this is the first time. And if you look at it, we printed our resource sheets. We do exactly what INEC used to do, the logistic preparation, everything. And the president was very impressed with the logistics we deploy 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. We've not had so much conflicts and crises across communities and at ward level, down to the election processes. And he's happy with what we're doing.”
Yilwatda also thanked the president for his moral backing, which has enabled the national working committee to enforce party regulations strictly.
Consensus and Direct Primaries
On the issue of consensus, the Plateau-born chairman clarified that the party follows clear guidelines. Where consensus arrangements fail, the party resorts to direct primaries. He emphasized that there is no coercion involved. “Our guidelines are very clear, and our guidelines on consensus is clear. On a direct primary, it is also clear. Where consensus doesn't work, you go for direct primaries. And that's what people are doing across the states. There's no state that people have complained that they wanted direct primaries and they were given compulsory consensus. Because there's a consensus form that we give. And based on that, you must sign off those consensus form that you step down. You agree on a consensus candidate before the process takes place.”
APC Addresses Opah Disqualification Claims
Earlier, the Abia state chapter of the APC dismissed as false viral social media reports alleging that governorship aspirant Eric Opah was disqualified from the party’s governorship primary over membership controversies. In a statement by spokesperson Uche Aguoru, the party described the report as baseless, stressing that no official communication or decision had been issued by the national leadership disqualifying Opah or questioning his membership registration.
