The National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Prof. Nentawe Yilwatda, has dismissed claims that the ruling party is responsible for the crises and defections rocking opposition parties, insisting that Labour Party presidential candidate Peter Obi has been changing political parties since 2014 without any influence from the APC.
Yilwatda made the remarks on Tuesday during an interview on Channels Television, where he responded to allegations by opposition leaders that the APC is deliberately weakening rival political parties ahead of the 2027 general elections.
According to the APC chairman, Obi’s movement between political parties began long before the current administration came into office.
“Nobody in APC chased Peter Obi out of PDP. Nobody from APC chased Obi out of the Labour Party. Nobody in APC chased him out of the Labour Party to ADC or chased him out of ADC again to NDC,” Yilwatda said.
He argued that Obi had been changing political platforms since the administration of former President Goodluck Jonathan.
“He started moving from his party long before now, during the time of President Jonathan in 2014. It means that APC has been the person chasing him from 2015 till date, when we were even opposition?” he added.
Yilwatda described the internal crises affecting opposition parties as self-inflicted, rejecting claims that the APC was behind the instability.
“This is a group of people who have a self-inflicted wound. Every day, they move from party to party,” he said.
Comparing the APC’s formation with the current opposition coalition, the APC chairman said the ruling party was founded on a shared vision rather than individual political ambition.
He noted that President Bola Tinubu served as the rallying point when the APC was formed in 2013, even though he was not seeking the presidency at the time.
Yilwatda also claimed that Obi’s latest political moves were influenced by his search for a platform that would guarantee him a presidential ticket.
“When he left Labour Party, he moved to ADC. He came to ADC, he discovered that he couldn’t get an automatic ticket. That’s why he left to NDC. And in NDC now, he has gotten his ticket,” he stated.
He insisted that if the APC truly had the influence it was accused of, it would have prevented Obi from securing a presidential ticket.
“If anyone wanted to destabilise Obi, we would have stopped him from getting a ticket if we were the people doing it. But we don’t have that control,” Yilwatda said.
The APC chairman also denied claims that members of the ruling party had infiltrated opposition parties to create internal crises.
“There’s no single member of APC that is in ADC. No single member of APC that is in NDC,” he said.
However, he admitted that persuading politicians from rival parties to join the APC was part of his responsibility as national chairman.
“Of course, we do it. We move around. That’s my role as national party chairman… To galvanise and mobilise the party,” he said.
Yilwatda further rejected allegations that politicians who defect to the APC automatically escape prosecution over corruption allegations.
“Never. Most people who are in APC have still been prosecuted,” he said.
His comments come amid growing political realignments ahead of the 2027 general election, with opposition leaders continuing to accuse the ruling party of encouraging defections and fueling internal crises within rival political parties.
