Some governors on the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC) have commenced underground moves aimed at the possible removal of the national chairman of the Party, Professor Nentawe Yilwatda, ahead of the 2027 general elections.
It was gathered that the governors are irked over the way and manner Prof. Yilwatda is handling the outcome of the recently concluded party primaries in a way that is affecting the control the governors enjoy with regards to emergence of candidates in the states.
Specifically, the governors with arrow heads from the South-west, North-central and South-south geopolitical zones are seriously mobilising and pushing for the ouster of Yilwatda, who they accused of displaying lack of experience in the management of political party administration.
Accordingly, the governors who have nominated two members each from the three zones to drive the “Yilwatda Must Go” project are also pushing for the appointment of a new national chairman ahead of 2027 general elections to oversee the party’s outing.
A particular governor from the South-West believed to be close to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu is being fingered by insiders as one of the arrowheads of the plot against Yilwatda.
A source close to the governors said that the governors are not happy with the APC national chairman over his refusal to abide by earlier agreements before the just concluded National Assembly primaries conducted across the country.
They are particularly upset with Yilwatda over his insistence that all results must undergo proper scrutiny by the National Working Committee (NWC) before final ratification and official announcement at the party’s national secretariat in Abuja.
However, Yilwatda in a statement by his Special Adviser on Media and Information Strategy, Abimbola Tooki, said all decisions on the procedure for the primaries were undertaken with the collective agreement of all stakeholders in the party.
He dismissed the insinuation that the APC governors are angry with the National Chairman, saying that proper sequence leading to the declaration of winners was adhered to.
According to Yilwatda; “Results could be collated at the state and local government levels, but no candidate shall be declared winner at that stage.
It was gathered that the APC 2026 Primary Election Guidelines directed election committees to only collate results at the constituency and senatorial district levels after which they were expected to forward them to the party’s national headquarters for verification and ratification by the National Working Committee.
Further checks indicated that most of the governors allegedly disregarded this provision and insisted on collation and announcement of results to prevent manipulation and possible replacement of victorious candidates by the NWC.
The national chairman had insisted that only the NWC has the power to verify election results and officially declare winners of party primaries.
Information pieced together indicated that the national leadership of the APC was aware of the underground moves against Yilwatda by the governors.
A source at the APC national secretariat said that some of the governors had even commenced plotting against Yilwatda even before the commencement of the party primaries.
The source said; “The first intention of some of the governors was to pressure members of the NWC into selling the party’s Expression of Interest and Nomination Forms only to aspirants whose names they forwarded to the national headquarters.
“The governors were ready to contribute one billion naira each. However, it was the national chairman who thwarted the plan and insisted that every aspirant must be given equal access to obtain the party forms.
“That was his first offence against the governors. The second offence was his refusal to allow governors to single-handedly nominate all members of the election committees and appeal panels deployed to their states.
“If governors were allowed to handpick all committee members, it would have become easier to impose their preferred candidates and influence the reports to back their actions,” the source explained.
It was further gathered that Yilwatda’s insistence on the verification of election results and the official declaration of winners in Abuja was seen by some governors as a major obstacle to achieving their aim, thus are desirous to get the national chairman out of their way ahead of the 2027 general elections.
It was gathered that the major obstacle facing the governors who have been meeting and mobilising is how to convince President Tinubu to support their plot.
Another source at APC national secretariat said that he doubts if they can convince the President who allowed the same governors to decide their candidates for the state assemblies without interference from the National Secretariat.
