Prof. Nentawe Yilwatda, the National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), has expressed confidence that President Bola Tinubu will win the 2027 presidential election.
Yilwatda made the assertion while speaking on Channels Television’s Sunday Politics.
He claimed that the party’s internal polls show it is ahead of its political rivals across the country.
Yilwatda said the APC had conducted opinion polls and gathered statistics from different states, which, according to him, indicate that Tinubu is well-positioned to secure re-election.
The APC chairman dismissed concerns about the strength of opposition parties, including the African Democratic Congress (ADC), whose presidential candidate is former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar, and the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC), which has Peter Obi as its candidate.
“We have done fact-finding; we are leading. We have done our polls. We have our own polls that give us the real statistics across the states,” he said.
Asked whether the polls indicated that Tinubu would win the election, Yilwatda responded affirmatively.
He argued that the opposition parties’ inability to win elections ahead of the 2027 general election gave the ruling party an advantage, adding that the APC was not intimidated by their activities.
The APC chairman also rated Tinubu above Atiku, insisting that the incumbent president had performed better, particularly in the areas of economic reforms and taxation.
According to him, the administration’s tax laws have expanded the tax net and increased government revenue, with benefits for the poorest Nigerians.
Yilwatda also defended the government’s performance in the power sector, saying the administration had enabled state governments to generate, transmit and distribute electricity.
He described the economic difficulties currently facing Nigerians as temporary, expressing confidence that citizens would continue to support the ruling party despite rising fuel costs and other economic pressures.
“What we are passing through (in Nigeria), for example, at this moment, is temporary. The increase in the cost of fuel is temporary. Nigerians believe in us,” he said.
On allegations that the APC protects its members from prosecution over corruption and other offences, Yilwatda rejected the claims, maintaining that party membership did not confer immunity from the law.
He said some APC members were already facing prosecution and appearing in court, adding that the party could not use the prosecution of individuals as a justification for denying them their fundamental human rights.
The chairman also disclosed that the party was adopting a three-pronged approach to address grievances arising from its primaries, in a bid to manage internal disputes ahead of the next general election.
On preparations for the presidential campaign, Yilwatda said the party leadership was reviewing the composition of its campaign council and would inaugurate it soon.
He also addressed the Rainbow Coalition associated with the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, saying he had no objection to individuals or groups supporting Tinubu’s re-election bid.
Yilwatda further dismissed the Tinubu Must Go campaign, describing its promoters as opposition figures whose activities, he argued, did not represent the views of the wider Nigerian population.
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