2027: In spite of endorsement, Tinubu must emerge at convention — Yilwatda, APC national chairman

MaTaZ ArIsInG
Dallas, Texas

2027: In spite of endorsement, Tinubu must emerge at convention — Yilwatda, APC national chairman.

•Denies INEC’s claim of early campaigns  •Says ADC not an organised opposition

President Bola  Tinubu must still emerge at an organised convention as the All Progressives Congress (APC) standard bearer in the 2027 general election despite the gale of endorsements by organs of the ruling party.

 The national chairman of the party, Professor NentaweYilwatda, made the declaration on Wednesday while speaking on a Channels Television monitored programme, Sunrise Daily.

Checks revealed that President Tinubu who was yet to make a formal declaration for his party ticket, has been endorsed by the governors, federal lawmakers and other critical stakeholders in the party at an elaborate event tagged, APC National Summit, held last May at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.

The APC national chairman maintained that by virtue of provisions of the Electoral Act, Tinubu, who enjoys Right of First Refusal to the APC ticket, would be subjected to the rigour of an open presidential convention.

He said:” If we already have endorsement from the members, that means he is the preferred candidate for 2027. Printing of forms isn’t the issue.  “The issue is one person being accepted  by majority of members of the political party as their own preferred candidate.  “It isn’t about how many forms we are printing, the issue is there is only one office and one person is going to stand for it.

“If our members overwhelmingly endorse President Tinubu as the preferred candidate, you can pick the form, but the members will still vote for that preferred candidate. That’s the voice of the majority and you could see it at the summit held at the Villa: the governors, members of the National Assembly, critical stakeholders of the party, all of them. They endorsed him as their own single candidate.

“The Electoral Act says even if there is endorsement, you must conduct primaries, even if it is one person.”

Asked if the African Democratic Congress (ADC)  posed a threat to a fresh mandate for President Tinubu, the APC national chairman dismissed the opposition as having no chance in the forthcoming general election.

He said: “You saw in the by-election. The Peoples Democratic Party  (PDP)  won only one seat out of 17. NNPP won only in Kano State, ADC won only one state assembly seat in Anambra State.  But, we won across all the geopolitical zones. “You see, when we talk about opposition, who is the leader of the opposition? “Every leader in ADC is looking for a ticket unlike in 2013 when APC was formed. There was this National Leader galvanising our members, investing money, investing his time and intelligence. That person was President  Tinubu. Everybody rushing to ADC are looking for ticket. They aren’t organised as an opposition.”

Professor Yilwatda further argued that Nigerians are impressed with the achievements of the present administration which informed its victory in the recent by- elections. He faulted insinuation that the ruling party would be rejected at the polls because of the present economic hardship being experienced by Nigerians,  attributed to the economic policies of  President Tinubu’s administration.

“Not at all because it is the same people that voted for us in all the  by- elections and we have won the majority. It is the same Nigerians that will vote at the next elections . Largely, they will still vote APC. Nigerians are impressed with our performance on the economy and  social infrastructures provisions.  The economy is improving, security improving, access to education improving and social security. So, Nigerians have been watching those landmark achievements by the president,” he said.

Asked to comment on concern by the Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission(INEC),  Professor MahmoodYakubu, over early campaigns by political parties and their aspirants, the APC national chairman claimed no provisions of the Electoral Act has been breached by his party.

“Mobilisation is a normal political activity, not a campaign,” he said.

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