Professor Nentawe Yilwatda has emerged as the new national chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC) following a late-night consensus deal brokered by President Bola Tinubu and APC governors.
His nomination was made official after the resignation of Abdullahi Ganduje, who stepped down citing health concerns. The APC National Executive Committee (NEC) is expected to ratify Yilwatda’s appointment later today in Abuja.
At 56, Yilwatda brings a strategic mix of academic, bureaucratic, and electoral experience to the role. A former INEC Resident Electoral Commissioner and APC’s 2023 governorship candidate in Plateau State, he currently serves as Minister of Humanitarian Affairs
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The appointment is part of a carefully calibrated political reset by the ruling party. Yilwatda, a Christian from the North-Central zone, was seen as the ideal balance to APC’s Muslim presidential ticket. Party insiders said his religious identity, youth, and scandal-free record were critical to his emergence.
> “We needed someone who reflects generational and regional balance—he ticks those boxes,” a senior APC source said.
The zoning structure of the party gave the chairmanship to the North-Central, comprising Plateau, Benue, Kogi, Kwara, Nasarawa, and Niger states. Yilwatda’s roots in Plateau and his previous electoral exposure gave him an edge.
Before entering politics, Yilwatda lectured in engineering at the Federal University of Agriculture, Makurdi, and played a high-stakes electoral role at INEC between 2017 and 2021—overseeing sensitive polls in Benue, Osun, Rivers, Cross River, and Anambra.
His rise through the APC ranks has been rapid. After leaving INEC in late 2021, he joined the APC and quickly became its 2023 guber flagbearer in Plateau. Though he lost the election, his loyalty and technocratic appeal earned Tinubu’s trust and a cabinet seat.
Yilwatda’s elevation comes amid internal agitation, declining public trust, and visible fatigue within APC’s older ranks. Party leaders now hope he can spearhead a national image overhaul, revive internal cohesion, and restore grassroots confidence ahead of the 2027 general elections.
