…Says complaints normal, Tinubu impressed
The National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Prof. Nentawe Yilwatda, has rated the recently concluded state and National Assembly primaries held nationwide as organised and near rancour-free.
Speaking with newsmen after a meeting with President Bola Tinubu in Lagos on Wednesday evening, Yiltwarda said complaints after the primaries were normal in a democracy, disclosing that the President was impressed with the outcome.
Speaking generally on his assessment of the exercise, the APC chair said: “We have a few positions, and we have thousands of people who have come to vote for these positions across the country.
“The most competitive ever in the history of Nigeria. It shows how APC have penetrated all communities in Nigeria and how they are accepted by Nigerians and how every facet of Nigeria wants to be a member of APC, and all leaders, people who want to become leaders in Nigeria, they’ve seen APC as the first choice, and I want to thank Nigerians for that support and acceptance of the party.
“I also want to thank our supporters for the disciplined approach they’ve given these processes. It’s near rancour-free, very organised, with few complaints. It’s usual for people to complain in election processes, but it’s near perfect.
“It’s near perfect, and you’ve said it’s so competitive, but we’ve had a lot of complaints from some quarters as well. Some have gone against the consensus, and some are opting out. What do you make of this? What does it translate to for you? Our guidelines are very clear.
Our guidelines on consensus are clear. Our guidelines on direct primaries are also clear. Where consensus doesn’t work, you go for direct primaries.
That’s what people are doing across the states. There’s no state where people have complained that they wanted direct primaries and they were given compulsory consensus. Because it’s a consensus form that we gave.
You must sign off on those consensus forms that you’ve stepped down. You agreed on a consensus candidate before the process took place. That’s what we’re following in the guidelines.”
Asked about his response to widespread complaints on alleged irregularities by contestants in some states, he said, “Definitely, we’re going to have some aggrieved party members after this primary election. How prepared is the National Working Committee to handle this post-primaries crisis?
“We have an internal conflict resolution mechanism that has prevailed over a period. We have the Presidential Conflict Resolution Committee. We have the Party Conflict Resolution Committee. The party itself has been working to ensure that we reduce crises as much as we can. We manage people as much as we can.
“Everywhere, if you lose an election, it’s not a rare thing. The emotions, the sentiments, the fact that you feel you’re the best and then suddenly it’s gone, you’re not the one. The sentiments and feelings, the ill feelings, sometimes it’s there.
“We ensure that we have the early healing process so that we can work on the campaign process so that we can emerge victorious across the country in 2027. What action is Mr President giving? This time around, he’s just the same feeling; let’s improve on our processes. This is the first time that we’re deploying nationwide direct primaries.
“Almost as if this is the first time. If you look at it, we printed our result sheets. We do exactly what is needed of us to do.
The logistics preparation, everything. The President was very impressed with the logistics we deployed across the country, and the tactics we’ve used also. He has also been very impressed with the reduced number of incidents that we have across the country.
We’ve not had so many conflicts and crises across communities and at the ward level, down to the election processes. He’s happy with what we’re doing. I also want to thank Mr President for the backing he has given the National Working Committee to succeed. The moral backi
