FCT polls: APC National Chairman inaugurates 137-member campaign committee

Ahead of next week’s Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Area Council elections, the National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Professor Nentawe Yilwatda, on Friday inaugurated a 137-member campaign committee for the election.

Kwara State Governor, AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq, will serve as Chairman, while the Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives will serve as Secretary.

Checks revealed that aside from Governor AbdulRazaq and the Deputy Speaker who are from the North Central and South-East regions, respectively, party chieftains from the remaining four geopolitical zones were also included in the 137-member campaign team.

Speaking during the inauguration, Professor Yilwatda justified the large number, noting that members were drawn from the six geopolitical zones to mobilise residents from their respective regions who reside in the FCT.

“The FCT belongs to all Nigerians. If we execute our strategies effectively and work as one united party, victory is assured.”

The APC chairman said his leadership was determined to secure victory in all six Area Councils, compared with the party’s dismal performance in the 2023 general elections.

He also expressed satisfaction that chieftains of opposition parties who command followership in the FCT have defected to the APC.

He dismissed suggestions that opposition parties, particularly the African Democratic Congress, were engaged in vigorous voter campaigns while chieftains of the ruling party were complacent.

He said: “Who told you they were not campaigning? The campaign was done at the grassroots, among our people, across all tribes of Nigeria. It’s not selective. We have our governors who have been coming to town.

“They are from the South-South, South-East, North-Central, and North-West, representing all regions of the country.

“We have governors from all these regions, and all of them have been reaching out to the people in their own way, going to the communities, and they have dispatched leadership within those groups and tribes.

“So, we are mobilising more than any other political party in Nigeria. We are confident we will win the election.”

Also addressing newsmen shortly after the committee was inaugurated, the Deputy Speaker explained why Nigerians from the South-East region residing in Abuja would vote for the APC.

He said: “Just as there are people from other parts of the country also residing here because the FCT is the melting point of the entire population of Nigeria from all geopolitical zones. But, as you rightly pointed out, a lot of Igbos are living here to do business and also to make their investments as residents.

“I am an Igbo man and also a Nigerian, and I’m part of this government. I’m one of the faces of Igbos in leadership. So no longer can Igbos say we are not part of the administration. This did not happen in the previous administration. If you look at the succession leadership of the country for eight years, there was no Igbo person there. Now they see me every day participate in the governance of this country. And I know that is a big message to my people, that they are not alienated, that they are not marginalised out of the current government. That is a campaign tool already for this administration.

“But suffice it to say that this administration has made a huge impact in the FCT. Under the government of the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, there is a great difference from what it used to be and what it is at the moment. And I want to also thank Minister Wike, who has done tremendously well in not just impacting the urban areas of the FCT but making governance felt even at the grassroots.

“These are our campaign tools. That is what we are taking to the market. We are going beyond posters, radio jingles, and campaign slogans in the FCT. We are saying the facts speak for themselves. You can feel our development. You can touch and experience what we have brought as dividends of democracy. So there is going to be less job for us to do. Yes, we struggled in the past because there was no visible evidence of the impact of the government within the FCT. But no reasonable person can say the same thing currently.

“So, we are here to convince our people that the government that has done this for the people of the FCT and the residents is ready to do more if given the opportunity to provide leadership in the six Area Councils of the FCT and in the 68 council wards. We are ready.

“I am the secretary of this campaign council, and I can assure you that we will bring the energy of young minds and the innovative spirit of young people to push the agenda to the grassroots.

“We will be on the streets. We will be in every household. We will go door to door, business to business, to sell the message of the APC.

“It will no longer be said that APC lost elections in Abuja. That was in the past. We are about to rewrite history. My people whom I love so much, my Igbo people, who love me will not allow me to be ashamed, knowing fully well that I’m at the helm of affairs to ensure that the bulk votes of the Igbo communities in Abuja are delivered to the greatest party within the Black race, which is called the APC.”

Ardo  Zubairu 

National Secretary 

TInubu Re- Election Project 2027 . Office Phones: 

08033305195

08098885195

07033454053

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