The National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress, Professor Nentawe Yilwatda, has dismissed worries about the party’s future after President Bola Tinubu’s exit from office, noting that the party has the structures, experience, and leadership depth to survive beyond Tinubu’s presidency.
The national chairman stated this while appearing on Channels TV’s Hard Copy programme, on Friday.
His remarks followed growing debate within and outside the APC about leadership succession and the party’s future beyond Tinubu’s tenure.
Speaking on the future of the APC, Yilwatda said the party’s survival does not depend on any single individual, noting that it had endured before Tinubu became president and has continued to function effectively under his leadership.
He recalled that Tinubu played a critical role in establishing the APC ahead of the 2015 general elections, despite not holding executive office at the time.
Yilwatda pointed out that the late President Muhammadu Buhari had set up a reconciliation committee in 2018 to address internal disputes within the party, with Tinubu appointed to head the panel.
“You will recall that in 2019, President Buhari set up a reconciliation committee that prepared the party for elections. It was headed by the same President Bola Tinubu.
“When submitting the report, Tinubu said, ‘I have reconciled the numbers that we need to win the 2019 election. With what I have done, I’m sure we can win the 2019 election.’ Did we win it? Yes,” the national chairman said.
Yilwatda stressed that Tinubu’s ability to unify factions and mobilize support was instrumental to the party’s victory in 2019, even though he was not president at the time.
Looking ahead, the chairman said Tinubu’s influence would remain relevant after his presidency, describing him as a national leader whose experience and political network would continue to guide the party.
“Now he will be coming as a former president, providing leadership for us. Anybody coming in will depend heavily on his experience, heavily on his network, and on that scientific political approach that he has been using,” Yilwatda said.
The national chairman also dismissed claims that Tinubu would struggle to secure the majority of votes in the North in the 2027 elections, insisting that the outcome of the August 2025 by-elections showed the ruling party’s growing acceptance across the region.
According to him, the outcome of the by-elections proved those claims wrong, as the APC recorded victories across several northern states.
“We won elections in the North Central among core Muslim communities. We won among the minorities of northern Nigeria, and we won among Christian-dominated communities of northern Nigeria. That means our party is more distributed,” he said.
The APC chairman argued that no other party achieved similar reach during the by-elections, describing the ruling party as the most dominant force at the grassroots level.