All Progressives Congress, APC, National Chairman Nentawe Yilwatda has dismissed concerns over the wave of defections, saying the movement of 17 lawmakers and three former governors poses no threat to the ruling party.
“Seventeen out of 459 lawmakers is less than 5 per cent. Should I be worried? I am not worried,” he told journalists in Abuja on Wednesday after aspirants submitted nomination and expression of interest forms.
According to him, none of the defectors came from the APC and argued that opposition parties are only poaching from within their ranks.
“If someone defects from ADC to another opposition party, how does that affect APC? It doesn’t. Let them sort out their problems. APC remains solid, united and moving forward with strong numbers,” he said.
He referred to the large turnout of aspirants purchasing forms as evidence of the party’s nationwide acceptance and organisational strength.
“If you compare our numbers with other party secretariats, you won’t see one-tenth of this anywhere else. It shows our aspirants are deep-rooted and acceptable to society,” he said.
He also punctures the opposition for what he described as internal divisions, saying the public spat among opposition leaders shows the real conflict is “opposition versus opposition” rather than APC versus opposition.
“One group is calling another corrupt while another says some people can’t withstand competition and want free tickets elsewhere,” he said.
Speaking on internal democracy, Yilwatda said the APC had kept nomination fees unchanged and opened the process to competition, including for the presidential ticket, despite having a sitting president.
“We opened our party for competition. Sitting governors, senators, even the Senate President and Speaker are being challenged. The level of democracy in APC is second to none,” he said.
He added that the party would not extend the sale of nomination forms beyond the deadline due to timelines set by the Electoral Act for primaries and submissions.
He hinted that screening processes would be streamlined to manage the crowd while maintaining order and transparency.
