National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress, Prof. Nentawe Yilwatda, has dismissed allegations that the ruling party is behind the crisis and defections in opposition parties, saying the Nigeria Democratic Congress presidential candidate, Peter Obi, has been changing political parties since 2014 without any influence from the APC.
Yilwatda spoke on Tuesday during an interview on Channels Television.
He was responding to claims by opposition figures that the APC was weakening rival parties ahead of the 2027 general elections.
The APC chairman said the former Anambra State governor’s movement across political parties predates the current administration and could not be blamed on the ruling party.
“Nobody in APC chased Peter Obi out of PDP. Nobody from APC chased Obi out of the Labour Party. Nobody in APC chased him out of the Labour Party to ADC or chased him out of ADC again to NDC.
“He started moving from his party long before now, during the time of President Jonathan in 2014. It means that APC has been the person chasing him from 2015 till date, when we were even opposition?”’, he said.
Yilwatda’s comments come amid accusations by Obi and other opposition leaders that the APC is engineering internal crises within opposition parties and encouraging defections to weaken political rivals before the 2027 elections.
Responding to claims that the APC was behind the crises in the Labour Party, African Democratic Congress and other opposition parties, Yilwatda described the problems as self-inflicted.
“This is a group of people who have a self-inflicted wound. Every day, they move from party to party,” he said.
Drawing a distinction between the formation of the APC and the current opposition coalition, Yilwatda said the APC was built around a common vision rather than personal ambition.
He said former Lagos State governor and current President Bola Tinubu served as the rallying point when the APC was formed in 2013 and was not seeking the presidency at the time.
According to him, the current opposition leaders are merely searching for platforms that can guarantee them electoral tickets.
“When he left Labour Party, he moved to ADC. He came to ADC, he discovered that he couldn’t get an automatic ticket. That’s why he left to NDC. And in NDC now, he has gotten his ticket,” he said.
“If anyone wanted to destabilise Obi, we would have stopped him from getting a ticket if we were the people doing it. But we don’t have that control.”
Yilwatda also denied that APC members had infiltrated opposition parties to create instability.
“There’s no single member of APC that is in ADC. No single member of APC that is in NDC,” he said.
The APC chairman, however, acknowledged that recruiting politicians from rival parties is part of his responsibility as national chairman.
Asked whether the APC was actively seeking defections, Yilwatda replied, “Of course, we do it. We move around.”
He added, “That’s even the role. That’s my role as national party chairman. It’s part of my role… To galvanise and mobilise the party.”
Yilwatda also rejected suggestions that politicians who join the APC automatically escape scrutiny over corruption allegations.
“Never. Most people who are in APC have still been prosecuted,” he said.
Obi’s recent political movements have fuelled debate over the stability of opposition parties, with the former Labour Party presidential candidate moving to the ADC before later joining the NDC, where he emerged as the party’s presidential candidate for the 2027 election.
(Punch)
