The National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Professor Nentawe Yilwatda, has said that no opposition candidate could match President Bola Tinubu’s record ahead of the 2027 general election.
Yilwatda named former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar, the presidential candidate of the African Democratic Congress; former Anambra State Governor Peter Obi, the presidential candidate of the Nigeria Democratic Congress; former Cross River State Governor Donald Duke, the presidential candidate of the Peoples Redemption Party; and Oyo State Governor Seyi Makinde, the presidential candidate of the Allied Peoples Movement, among those he said could not match Tinubu’s achievements.
He spoke on Thursday in Abuja while receiving members of the Forum of APC House of Representatives Aspirants, led by Hon. Danjuma Mohammed, at the party’s national secretariat.
Yilwatda said the Tinubu administration’s achievements in infrastructure and other sectors put the president ahead of his potential challengers.
He said the APC considered Tinubu its most credible candidate, adding that the president’s record compared favourably with those of other contenders.
“Let the opposition present their records alongside those of this administration, including their achievements in building strong institutions, and Nigerians will see the difference,” Yilwatda said.
On infrastructure, Yilwatda questioned the road projects delivered during the administration of former President Olusegun Obasanjo, when Atiku served as vice-president.
He claimed that Nigerians could not identify a 500-kilometre road built with the N300 billion road budget released during that period.
“We were here live. When the president gave road projects of over N300 billion, when another person was the Minister of Works, we couldn’t find even the road that was patched with that budget,” he said.
Yilwatda contrasted this with projects he said the Tinubu administration had completed or was still executing, including the Abuja–Kaduna–Kano Highway and the Lagos–Calabar Coastal Highway.
He also cited the Trans-Sahara Superhighway, claiming that work had reached between 30 and 40 per cent and that the project covered more than 1,400 kilometres.
He said the projects demonstrated the administration’s commitment to infrastructure and economic development.
Yilwatda also defended the government’s student loan scheme, criticising opposition figures who had questioned the value of the financial support provided to students.
The APC chairman said the party had more than 261,000 executives nationwide and called on the forum to work with its structures to secure victory in 2027.
Editor’s note: The original image caption identifies Yilwatda as the Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Reduction, while the article identifies him as APC National Chairman. Confirm his correct title for the publication date. Please also verify the parties and presidential-candidate descriptions attributed to Atiku Abubakar, Peter Obi, Donald Duke and Seyi Makinde.
