The National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Nentawe Yilwatda, has stated that the party will survive even after President Bola Tinubu leaves office.
Yilwatda made the declaration on Friday during an appearance on Channels Television while addressing concerns about the party’s future after Tinubu’s exit from office.
He argued that the party’s survival does not depend on a single individual, noting that it had endured before Tinubu took office.
He maintained that APC has the structures, experience, and leadership depth to survive beyond Tinubu’s presidency.
“Of course, the party will survive after Tinubu. Before him, the APC survived; with him, the APC survived. Even when he was not the president, his hand was visible,” Yilwatda said.
He recalled that Tinubu played a critical role in establishing the APC ahead of the 2015 general elections, despite not holding executive office at the time.
According to him, the late President Muhammadu Buhari established a reconciliation committee in 2018 to address internal disputes within the party, with Tinubu appointed to head the panel.
“You will recall that in 2019, President Buhari set up a reconciliation committee that prepared the party for elections. It was headed by the same President Bola Tinubu.
“When submitting the report, Tinubu said, ‘I have reconciled the numbers that we need to win the 2019 election. With what I have done, I’m sure we can win the 2019 election.’ Did we win it? Yes,” the national chairman said.
Yilwatda stressed that Tinubu’s ability to unify factions and mobilise support was instrumental to the party’s victory in 2019, even though he was not president at the time.
“He (Tinubu) was not the president then, but did he champion the reconciliation? Yes,” he said.
Looking ahead, the chairman said Tinubu’s influence would remain relevant after his presidency, describing him as a national leader whose experience and political network would continue to guide the party.
“Now he will be coming as a former president, providing leadership for us. Anybody coming in will depend heavily on his experience, heavily on his network, and on that scientific political approach that he has been using,” Yilwatda said.
The national chairman also dismissed claims that Tinubu would struggle to secure the majority of votes in the North in the 2027 elections, insisting that the outcome of the August 2025 by-elections showed the ruling party’s growing acceptance across the region.
“Before the by-election in August 2025, they said the APC would not win any election in the North, and the opposition came out with the slogan ‘anything but APC,” he said.
According to him, the outcome of the by-elections disproved those claims, as the APC recorded victories across several northern states.
“Election took place across the whole northern part of Nigeria. We lost only one House of Assembly seat. We won in Kebbi, Kano, Kaduna, Adamawa, Kogi, and Niger,” the chairman said.
He added that the party’s success cut across religious and ethnic lines, reflecting a broad-based support structure.