National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Nentawe Yilwatda, has said the ruling party possesses strong internal mechanisms to address disagreements arising from its ongoing primary elections.
Yilwatda spoke with journalists on Wednesday after meeting President Bola Ahmed Tinubu in Lagos, amid controversies trailing the party’s primaries in several states.
According to him, the APC primaries remain among the most competitive in Nigeria’s political history due to the party’s growing acceptance across the country.
He commended party members and supporters for what he described as disciplined and orderly conduct throughout the exercise.
“I also want to thank our supporters for the disciplined approach they’ve given these processes. It’s near rancour-free, very organised, little complaints. It’s usual for people to complain in election processes, but it’s near perfect,” he said.
Addressing concerns over disagreements linked to consensus arrangements in some states, Yilwatda explained that the party’s guidelines clearly provide alternatives where consensus fails.
“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,” he stated.
The APC chairman acknowledged that some members may feel dissatisfied after the primaries but assured that the party has established structures to handle disputes.
“Definitely we’re going to have some aggrieved party members after this primary election. We have an internal conflict resolution mechanism that has prevailed over a period,” he said.
“We have the Presidential Conflict Resolution Committee. We have the Party Conflict Resolution Committee. The party itself has been working to reduce crisis; we manage people as much as we can.”
Yilwatda also disclosed that President Tinubu expressed satisfaction with the conduct of the primaries, particularly the logistics and organisational strategies deployed nationwide.
“The President was very impressed with the logistics we deployed across the country, the tactics we’ve used. He has also been very impressed with the reduced number of incidents that we have across the country. He’s happy with what we’re doing,” he added.
He described the nationwide use of direct primaries as a significant milestone for the APC, saying it reflects improved organisational capacity and effective coordination.
According to him, the relatively peaceful conduct of the exercise was largely due to the discipline of party members and the limited level of conflict recorded during the process.
