It’s My Job to Weaken Opposition, APC Chairman Declares

National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Professor Nentawe Yilwatda

It’s My Job to Weaken Opposition, APC Chairman Declares

The National Chairman of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), Nentawe Yilwatda, has declared that he would be happy to cause implosion and division within opposition political parties, admitting that weakening the opposition through political strategy is part of his job. Speaking during a live appearance on Channels Television’s Politics Today programme on Monday, May 25, 2026, Yilwatda made the remarks while responding to questions about the state of opposition parties ahead of the 2027 general elections. In a particularly striking admission, Yilwatda revealed that he actually derives entertainment from watching opposition parties exchange insults and attack one another publicly. “In the last three weeks, the APC is not fighting ADC or NDC. It is NDC versus ADC or ADC versus NDC,” Yilwatda said during the interview. “Actually, I watched with fun all the insults that the ADC is raining on the NDC and the NDC is returning those fireworks on the ADC. I watched the videos, and I laughed.”

According to Yilwatda, the APC is not actively fighting opposition parties such as the African Democratic Congress (ADC) or the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC). Instead, he argued that these parties are battling internal crises of their own making. “You see, the APC is not fighting the African Democratic Congress, ADC, or the Nigeria Democratic Congress, NDC. They are the ones fighting each other. The self-implosion is in the opposition rather than in the APC.”

When pressed further on whether he was orchestrating the crises rocking opposition parties, Yilwatda offered a candid response that has drawn both criticism and praise from different quarters. “No, I can’t. But I will be happy if I can do it. That’s my job,” Yilwatda stated. He framed his approach as a legitimate political response to opposition activities, arguing that any political party in power would naturally seek to counter those trying to unseat it. “If you are opposing me, should I be happy? If you oppose me because you are in the opposition, what’s my job? Of course, to stop the opposition,” he said. Yilwatda further suggested that the opposition parties are more focused on internal rivalries and conflicts than challenging the APC for the 2027 presidency. “APC is not fighting ADC or NDC. It is NDC vs ADC or ADC vs NDC. The self-implosion is in the opposition rather than in the APC,” he reiterated.

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Beyond his comments about opposition implosion, Yilwatda used the interview to showcase the APC’s internal stability and organisational strength ahead of the 2027 elections. He argued that no political party in Nigeria currently possesses a stronger internal dispute resolution system than the APC. The APC chairman revealed that the party currently has about 12.9 million verified registered members submitted to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), a figure he said reflects the party’s reach, organisation and staying power. “We have about 12.9 million registered voters that we submitted to INEC. If you put all the political parties together, they don’t add up to APC’s registered members,” he stated. According to Yilwatda, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has about 2.4 million registered members, while the African Democratic Congress (ADC) has 1.6 million, the Labour Party has 1.3 million, and the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC) has about 700,000.

Yilwatda further emphasised that the APC is the only political party in Nigeria operating a fully verified membership register through the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC). “To register as a member of the APC, your name and primary data are sourced from NIMC. That’s the same primary data that is used across the country to open a bank account, get a driver’s licence and secure an international passport,” he explained. “So we’re the only political party that sources our primary data from NIMC. This is why people have seen the APC as one of the most politically viable and stable parties. We are a data-driven political party,” he stated.

Yilwatda argued that the APC’s internal stability sets it apart from opposition parties that are “breaking into pieces.” He pointed to the peaceful conduct of the party’s recent primaries as evidence of the APC’s organisational strength. “See how organised the primaries were; almost near rancour-free, no crisis, almost zero incidences in terms of crisis in communities. It shows APC is organised,” Yilwatda stated, referring to the party’s recent presidential primaries. “There’s no party that has a better mechanism for conflict resolution more than our party,” he added. He described the APC as “one of the most prepared political parties” in the country, noting that the party’s congresses and primaries were conducted with almost zero incidences across communities nationwide. “We have one of the most prepared machinery, a political machine that’s prepared for war and can tackle any political opponent at any given time,” he said.

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Yilwatda argued that the APC’s growing electoral strength is evident in the increasing number of governors, lawmakers and political stakeholders who have aligned with the ruling party since the 2023 general elections. “Today, the South-South that was purely with PDP and Obi, all of them are now APC. Even in the North-West, where NNPP and PDP were strong, today they are near zero,” he claimed. He also noted that despite the charges facing some APC members, people were still coming in large numbers to purchase nomination forms. “We did not increase our fees; we maintained them, yet people are coming in droves. We opened up our party. People are not hiding forms—everyone is buying, including the presidential ticket. We have a sitting President, yet people are buying forms to contest against him. We allowed it,” he said.

This is not the first time Yilwatda has made dismissive remarks about opposition parties. In earlier comments reported on May 7, 2026, he taunted opposition parties for “breaking into pieces” and declared that victory for APC in the forthcoming elections would be a landslide. “We are not belittling the opposition, but check what they are doing. Just yesterday, I listened to the fight between opposition leaders—they are breaking into pieces, and I’m sure they will blame us for their internal crisis,” he had said.

Yilwatda’s admission that he would be happy to cause implosion in opposition parties signals a potentially aggressive political strategy by the APC ahead of the 2027 general elections. His comments suggest that the ruling party may adopt tactics aimed at exploiting and deepening existing divisions within opposition ranks. For opposition parties already grappling with leadership crises and logistical challenges, Yilwatda’s remarks add another layer of concern about the fairness of the political playing field as Nigeria approaches the 2027 elections. However, the APC chairman maintains that the party’s stability, data-driven membership system, and internal conflict resolution mechanisms position it as the undisputed frontrunner for the 2027 presidency.