“ADC, NDC are going nowhere,” APC Chairman Yilwatda

The National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Professor Nentawe Yilwatda, has brushed off threats from opposition parties, stating that the ruling party is fully prepared to win the 2027 general elections.

Yilwatda made this statement on Saturday while speaking to journalists at the close of a three-day party retreat in Maiduguri, Borno State.

According to a report by Daily Trust, the APC chairman stated that opposition groups like the African Democratic Congress (ADC) and the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC) are simply participating in the elections and do not pose a serious challenge to the ruling party.

Yilwatda recounted the success of APC in five national by-elections and how the party comfortably won four of the contests and only lost one seat to the APM.

He pointed out a major victory last week in Ganye Local Government Area of Adamawa State, a political home base of the main opposition figure, Atiku Abubakar.

The three-day retreat gathered the party’s National Working Committee (NWC), state chairmen, and national executives to map out their 2027 strategy. During the meeting, the party leaders passed a vote of confidence in President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and Vice President Kashim Shettima. They also took time to observe a moment of silence for the 37 miners who recently died in Niger State.

Yilwatda dismissed the current media narrative about a growing opposition force, stressing that the ADC and NDC have failed to win a single councillorship seat during recent elections in Ekiti and Osun states.

“So if they can’t even win a councillorship, are we contesting against them?. As far as I am concerned, they are participants in this election, not contesting with us…We are very grounded, and I doubt if any party can challenge us”, Yilwatda.

The APC said it also plans to set up local reconciliation committees to settle any internal disputes across state chapters, ahead of the 2027 elections.