Forum alleges: Yilwatda blocking Mutfwang’s defection to APC

Yilwatda

The North-Central All Progressives Congress Forum says it regrets championing the return of the party’s national chairmanship to the zone, citing disappointment with the performance of the current National Chairman, Prof. Nentawe Yilwatda. The forum alleged that Yilwatda is blocking Plateau State Governor, Caleb Mutfwang, from joining the APC.

The APC chairmanship was originally zoned to the North-Central at the party’s 2022 convention, leading to the emergence of former Nasarawa State Governor, Abdullahi Adamu.

However, after Adamu’s resignation in 2023, Dr Abdullahi Ganduje, from Kano State in the North-West, was appointed chairman — a development that triggered agitation from North-Central stakeholders.

To reclaim the position, the forum staged protests, rallies, press conferences and petitions, targeting party organs, particularly the Progressive Governors’ Forum.

Its agitation eventually led to the appointment of Yilwatda, from Plateau State, on July 24, 2025.

But in a statement issued on Sunday in Abuja, the forum’s Chairman, Alhaji Saleh Zazzaga, said Yilwatda had failed to demonstrate the leadership qualities expected of a national chairman.

He accused him of promoting a religious agenda and prioritising his personal political interests in Plateau State.

The statement was triggered by a circulating video in which Yilwatda, speaking in a church, claimed to be representing Christians in the North-Central — a remark the Forum described as divisive and contrary to the APC’s ethos.

“We, the North-Central APC Forum, regret our agitation for the return of the position of APC national chairman to the North-Central region… We are apologising to Mr President, to former national chairman Alhaji Abdullahi Ganduje, and to other leaders of the party,” the group said.

The forum said its disappointment stemmed from what it described as Yilwatda’s inability to unite the region or manage party affairs effectively.