National Chairman of APC, Professor Nentawe Yilwatda, said there was no cause for worry over the defection of 17 opposition lawmakers in the House of Representatives from African Democratic Congress (ADC) to Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC).
Seventeen members of the House of Representa-tives had Tuesday defected to NDC during the plenary, while one member defected to APC.
Speaking with journalists in Abuja, during his visit to the venue where the party’s forms were being sold, Yilwatda said the lawmakers that defected would not affect the ruling party in any way.
He stated, “What do you call a shocker? You said 17 lawmakers out of over 400—about 459. Seventeen out of 459 is less than five per cent. Should I be worried about that? I am not worried.
“You talked about NDC. When people join APC, they say we paid them to come. But when people defect among themselves, they don’t say anything. None of those defecting is from our party. They are fishing from the same pond.
“If someone defects from ADC to another NDC — opposition party, how does that affect APC? It doesn’t. Let them sort out their problems. APC is still solid, still united, and we are moving forward with strong numbers.”
The chairman said the opposition parties in the country were breaking into pieces, adding that in the end, they would blame the ruling party for their misfortune.
He added, “We are not belittling the opposition, but check what they are doing. Just on Wednesday, I listened to the fight between opposition leaders—they are breaking into pieces, and I’m sure they will blame us for their internal crisis.
“They are insulting themselves. Nigerians are seeing that the fight is not APC versus opposition; it is opposition versus opposition.
“One group is calling another corrupt and refusing to be part of it, while another group says some people cannot withstand competition and want free tickets elsewhere.”
Yilwatda ruled out another extension for the sale and submission of forms.
He stated, in response to a question as to whether there would be another extension, “No, we are not. We are time-bound. We would have loved to extend it, but we are time-bound. The Electoral Act also limits the timeline that we have to conduct our primaries and submit them. We also want to give ourselves some time so that we don’t fall into any trap in any form.”
The APC national chairman stressed that the party would put measures in place to reduce the crowd during the screening to ensure a seamless exercise.
According to him, “While it is good to have a crowd around the party to show presence, dominance, and mobilisation, this in itself is mobilisation. Just imagine the thousands of people coming in here every day—it shows acceptance.
“If any Nigerian sees these numbers and compares them with other party secretariats, you won’t see one-tenth of this number anywhere else.
“It shows the level of preparation of our aspirants. It means they are deep-rooted and acceptable to society. Our aspirants are also in large numbers, and when you aggregate these numbers, you can be sure that APC will win most of the seats in this country.”
Segun Awofadeji and Adedayo Akinwale
