APC National Chairman, Prof. Nentawe Yilwatda
By VICTOR CHIAHEMEN, Abuja –
The National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Professor Nentawe Yilwatda, has warned state coordinators of the party’s ongoing electronic membership registration exercise that failure to register all party members could lead to their removal.
Yilwatda issued the warning during a meeting with state registration coordinators at the party’s national secretariat in Abuja, as the APC intensifies efforts to build a transparent and verifiable membership database ahead of future elections.
He said the responsibility of coordinating the exercise at the state level was critical to the strength of the party, stressing that the role was not ceremonial.
A statement issued in Abuja on Monday by the Special Adviser to the National Chairman (Media & Communications), Abimbola Tooki, quoted Prof Yilwatda to have said: “If any coordinator does not get all members registered in his or her state, we will drop you and appoint another person.”
He added that the party would no longer tolerate lapses in its internal processes.
The electronic registration exercise, which is being carried out across the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory, is scheduled to end on January 30, 2026. State organising secretaries are serving as coordinators of the exercise, except in states where they were not trained.
Yilwatda said solid party structures at the state, local government and ward levels were essential to winning elections, noting that national offices alone could not deliver electoral success.
“Nobody contests elections at the national secretariat. Elections are won or lost at the grassroots,” .
He also warned against situations where the party claims large membership figures but records poor electoral performance, describing such discrepancies as unacceptable. According to him, the National Executive Committee (NEC) has put measures in place to ensure that party records reflect actual membership strength.
The APC chairman also stated that any member of a State Executive Committee who fails to register before the deadline would be removed from office, noting that NEC has the constitutiounal authority to enforce compliance.
Yilwatda condemned any attempt by party officials to block members from registering, insisting that no individual, including governors, has the power to exclude party members from the pprocess
To address logistical challenges, he directed coordinators to use Android phones in places where tablets are unavailable and warned against making the exercise unnecessarily expensive for state governments. He disclosed that in his home state, registration officials were drawn from within local wards to reduce costs.
Providingg an update on the exercise, Yilwatda said Delta State was currently leading in registrations, followed by Lagos, Kebbi, Adamawa and Plateau states. He added that progress would be reviewed within five days.
The APC chairman linked the electronic registration exercise to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s reform agenda, saying the party must embrace modern systems that promote accountability and data-driven decision-making.
In their response, the state coordinators praises Yilwatda’s leadership and pledged to ensure the success of the registration exercise, assuring him that party structured would be strengthened ahead of the January 30 deadline.
