The National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Prof. Nentawe Yilwatda, has apologised to members who felt aggrieved, excluded or injured during the party’s internal primary elections.
Yilwatda said the party’s National Working Committee (NWC) accepts responsibility for any wrongdoing committed during the exercise, stressing that committees that conducted the primaries were constituted by the national leadership.
He made the remarks on Thursday in Ibadan during the launch of the APC Campaign Office in Oyo State.
The APC chairman appealed to aggrieved members to forgive the party and work towards unity ahead of the 2027 general elections.
According to him, the issue was not peculiar to Oyo State, as the national leadership would take responsibility for mistakes made by its representatives during the primaries in any part of the country.
“This is not for Oyo State alone. Anywhere anybody made a mistake in a state, it is our mistake because the committee was set up by us and they are representing us,” Yilwatda said.
He added that the party was prepared to acknowledge the grievances of members who believed they were wronged during the process.
“If anybody is hurt, if anybody is injured, if anybody is prevented or excluded in any form or the other, we take responsibility. On TV, before Nigerians, we take responsibility of all that has happened. I appeal to everybody that we are sorry,” he said.
Yilwatda also urged APC members at polling units, wards and local government areas to consider the disagreements arising from the primaries as an internal family matter and move beyond them.
He emphasised the need for unity within the party as it prepares for the 2027 elections, particularly in Oyo State, which he described as strategically important to the APC.
The national chairman said the party was taking Oyo State seriously because of its large voting population, which he said was second only to Lagos State.
Meanwhile, the APC governorship candidate in Oyo State, Senator Sharafadeen Alli, commended Yilwatda for honouring his commitments to the state.
Alli spoke during the event, expressing appreciation to the national chairman for meeting with governorship aspirants and other party stakeholders.
He said the achievements recorded by Yilwatda within two days surpassed what the stakeholders had been able to accomplish on their own.
“We cannot thank you enough for what you have come to do. What you have achieved successfully in two days, we have not been able to accomplish,” Alli said.
The governorship candidate said the promises made by Yilwatda when he invited the aspirants had now been fulfilled.
Alli subsequently assured the APC national chairman that the party leadership in Oyo State would continue to take the necessary steps to strengthen the party and advance its electoral interests ahead of the 2027 elections.
