APC Cheiftain Warns Party’s NWC Against Ceding Structures To Governors

A former Deputy National Publicity Secretary of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Yekini Nabena, on Wednesday, cautioned the party’s National Working Committee (NWC) against ceding party structures to incumbent governors ahead of its nationwide congresses.

The APC is preparing to conduct ward, local government and state congresses to determine its leadership structures at the grassroots and state levels ahead of the 2027 general election.

Nabena, a chieftain of the party from Bayelsa State, warned that allowing governors to take control of the structures could trigger internal crisis and further shrink the party’s support base.

In a statement issued in Abuja, he said handing over party structures from the wards to the state level to governors would “breed resentment, deprive real party men and women, and eventually chase away the few remaining masses in the APC.”

He stressed that the 2027 elections would be driven by popular participation, insisting that the masses must be carried along and not sidelined by a few power brokers.

Nabena alleged that information from the APC national secretariat indicated that the current NWC, led by Prof. Nentawe Yilwatda, was preparing to hand over structures to governors in their respective states.

“We will not be surprised if this prediction comes true because the National Chairman himself and more than half of the entire NWC didn’t go through election. They were appointed. So, what do you expect?” he said.

He urged the NWC to ensure transparency by making nomination forms available to all aspirants at every level to avoid friction and litigation across the states and the Federal Capital Territory.

According to him, reports suggested that nomination forms were being delivered to governors, who would then determine party officials through selection rather than election — a move he warned could lead to implosion.

Nabena called on party elders and President Bola Tinubu to intervene, noting that while the APC once had about 40 million registered members, it is now struggling to reach 10 million in its ongoing electronic membership registration, a development he said demanded caution.