Speaking on Monday during a live interview on Arise News, Yilwatda addressed deep-seated anxieties that the party’s heavy reliance on consensus arrangements might trigger an uncontrollable internal crisis ahead of the general elections.
The APC Chairman broke down the metrics of the shadow polls, revealing that out of the 29 states where governorship tickets were fiercely contested by incumbent governors and fresh aspirants, an overwhelming majority went down to the wire via direct voting.
“Across the 36 states, we had 29 governorship contests featuring both returning governors and fresh aspirants. Out of these, only three governorship candidates emerged through the consensus mechanism,” Yilwatda clarified. “Every single one of the remaining states went through rigorous direct primaries. There were absolutely no impositions because wherever we intervened, we ensured the rule of law took its full course.”
The Consensus Security Check: No Signature, No Deal
Explaining the stringent measures introduced by the national leadership to prevent powerful political godfathers from highjacking tickets, Yilwatda revealed that the party instituted a mandatory legal document for all consensus agreements.
Under this new policy, a consensus arrangement is rendered legally dead if even a single contender refuses to endorse it.
“Where a genuine consensus cannot be reached organically, the fallback option is always direct primaries,” the Chairman noted. “We specifically created a consensus sign-off form. This legal document requires every single aspirant contesting in that state to physically sign and agree before any consensus candidate is formally ratified by the party. Without unanimous signatures, it doesn’t stand.”
Why Some State Elections Were Delayed
Yilwatda also shed light on why the national working committee deliberately put the brakes on primaries in specific states, explaining that the delays were strategic moves to preserve the party’s internal cohesion and address complaints of foul play.
Rather than forcing the exercise through amid high tensions, the APC leadership preferred to hit the pause button to investigate petition claims.
“We had instances where aspirants appealed to the national headquarters over alleged anomalies. That is why we delayed some elections by two to three days. We deliberately shifted those dates to address concerns of foul play and ensure a level playing field before any votes were cast,” he explained.
To wrap up the peaceful resolution of internal friction, the Chairman assured party faithful that robust appeal panels remain active across the country, giving every aggrieved aspirant the legitimate platform to legally challenge any part of the electoral process.