Prof. Nentawe Yilwatda, the national chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), has urged Nigerians to hold their state governors and local government chairmen accountable for the use of public funds.
Yilwatda made the call on Monday in Abuja during the public presentation of “Vicious Red Circle,” a book on human trafficking authored by Alex Oriaku.
The APC chairman said Nigerians must begin to demand tangible development and people-oriented projects from subnational leaders, especially following the sharp rise in monthly allocations to states and local councils.
He said, *“No governor in Nigeria collects less than three times, up to four times what they used to collect before. None. Who knows that two years ago there was a sharing of about ₦400bn per month—but today, the last sharing they did was ₦2.2trn.
“So they can do more for their people. No governor collects less than three times. None. They are focusing now on bigger projects. And to me, this is a turnaround that we need in governors. I would say, talk to your governors. Talk to your local government chairmen. Let them do more.”
Yilwatda, who assumed the APC leadership amid mounting criticism of government economic policies, maintained that President Bola Tinubu’s administration is on the right track and expressed confidence that the ruling party would steer Nigeria toward economic recovery.
At the event, discussions also touched on human trafficking, a growing humanitarian crisis that has made Nigeria a source, transit, and destination country for trafficked persons across Africa and beyond.