The North-Central All Progressives Congress, APC, Forum has said it regrets pushing for the appointment of a person from the region as national chairman of the APC.
The position of APC national chairman was zoned to the North-Central at the party’s convention in 2022, leading to the emergence of ex-Nasarawa governor Adamu Abdullahi. But following his resignation in 2023 without completing the tenure, Abdullahi Ganduje, a former governor of Kano State in the North-West was appointed the party’s national chairman.
The North-Central APC Forum – a group of APC stakeholders from the North-Central states – embarked on a campaign to return the position to the zone. The Forum staged protests, held rallies, organised series of press conferences, issued statements and wrote to organs of the party, particularly the Progressive Governors Forum, over the matter.
Eventually, on July 24, 2025, Professor Nentawe Yilwatda, from Plateau State in the North-Central, was appointed the party’s national chairman.
However, the North-Central APC Forum has said it is disappointed with Yilwatda’s performance, noting that he has not demonstrated the capacity to lead the party. The Forum equally accused the APC national chairman of promoting a religious agenda, and using the office to advance his selfish political interests in Plateau State.
The North-Central APC Forum spoke in a statement released on Sunday in Abuja by its Chairman, Alhaji Saleh Zazzaga. The statement came after a video clip showed Yilwatda, at a church service, saying he is representing North-Central christians.
Condemning Yilwatda’s conduct, the APC Forum extended apologies to all those it wronged while agitating for the return of the party’s national chairmanship position to the North-Central.
Parts of the statement read, “We, the North-Central APC Forum, regret our agitation for the return of the position of APC national chairman to the North-Central region. We hereby apologize to party leaders who we wronged in the course of the agitation. We are apologizing to Mr President, we are apologizing to former national chairman Alhaji Abdullahi Ganduje and we apologize to other leaders of the party.
“We came to this decision because the person who was appointed as APC national chairman from the North-Central, following our agitation, has not displayed the competence to handle such a sensitive position and lead the party to greater heights. He has shown that he is not competent enough to unite the people of the North-Central.
“The North-Central is a secular region but the national chairman has been seen to be taking a sectional religious position on sensitive issues. We have seen a viral video clip where he said he is representing the Christians of the North-Central. This is contrary to both party and national principles. Moreover, such a stand is against the leadership of this country.
“Having considered these issues, we have decided to apologize for demanding that somebody from the North-Central should be made the national chairman of the APC. We regret our actions. We spent one year in court, we spent one year and six months, and a lot of resources, agitating for that position to return to North-Central, which at the end of the day Mr President and leaders of the party heard our cry.
“We are apologizing because we were the only group involved in the agitation.”
The APC Forum noted that Yilwatda lacks the required political experience to occupy the position of party national chairman, having never been elected even as a delegate or councillor.
The North-Central APC stakeholders urged President Tinubu to appoint a more competent person, from any zone, as national chairman in December 2025, when the party initially scheduled a national convention.
The statement added, “But unfortunately, the position was given to somebody that does not understand politics – somebody that has not been in politics for long. He is just about three years in politics. He has never been elected, even as a delegate or councillor. So he is not supposed to hold that big position. He doesn’t know how to talk, he doesn’t know how to unite the people. His handling of the position has scattered the unity party members were enjoying in Plateau State and the North-Central.
“We equally appeal to Mr President to, in December, move the position of APC national chairman to any other zone, as long as the person chosen is competent and can guarantee the party’s victory. Even if the convention does not hold in December as planned, we urge Mr President to appoint a competent person from any zone to lead the party.”
The Forum stressed that not having the national chairman from the zone would not affect its promise to deliver six million votes to Tinubu from the North-Central in 2027.
“The North-Central has enough positions to sustain the party in the zone, including the Secretary to the Government of the Federation and the Attorney-General of the Federation. We also have the North-Central Development Commission. We don’t need the position of APC national chairman to deliver votes for Mr President in 2027. We have already promised Mr President that we will deliver and we will fulfill our promise.”
In the same vein, the APC Forum said Yilwatda is behind the opposition to Plateau State Governor Caleb Mutfwang’s possible defection to the APC. The Forum has been championing a campaign to convince Muftwang to dump the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, for the APC. But the leadership of the APC in Plateau State has been opposing the move, passing a resolution to reject the governor’s coming.
The Forum said Yilwatda is blocking Mutfwang because of his intention to contest the Plateau governorship election in 2027. Yilwatda was APC gubernatorial candidate in Plateau in 2023, but lost to Muftwang, of the PDP.
The North-Central APC Forum told Yilwatda to resign as party national chairman and face his governorship ambition. Yilwatda was also accused of using his position to discredit the North-Central APC Forum’s certificate, issued since 2018, as a party support group.
“The national chairman wants to contest Plateau State governorship election again in 2027, that’s why he is blocking Governor Caleb Mutfwang from joining the party. He is sponsoring people to attack us because we are calling on Muftwang to defect to APC, which we believe is in the best interest of the party.
“So we are also asking the national chairman to step down from the position and concentrate on his ambition to contest the Plateau State governorship seat in 2027. If he is a true leader he should not block people from coming in to strengthen the party,” the statement added.