• Says party has no BoT because members own it
• Court stops APC’s state congress in Ondo

National Chairman of All Progressives Congress (APC), Nentawe Yilwatda, has attributed the party’s expanding membership and electoral competitiveness to its robust internal structures, technology-driven membership system, and transparent approach to party administration.

Speaking during a public presentation in Abuja, Yilwatda said the APC’s adoption of electronic registration had fundamentally strengthened party organisation and mobilisation.

According to him, the digital register gives the party accurate and verifiable data on its members, including their locations and contact details, enabling effective communication, mobilisation, and planning during elections.

He noted that the system also enhanced the credibility of party primaries by ensuring that only duly registered members participated.

In a statement, yesterday, signed by the Special Adviser to the National Chairman of APC (Media and Communications Strategy), Abimbola Tooki, Yilwatda explained that the APC had linked its membership register to the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC), a move he said had helped to clean and validate the party’s database, eliminate duplication, and improve internal accountability.

He stressed that the APC remained unique in its flexibility, having successfully conducted primaries through consensus, direct primaries, and indirect primaries, depending on what best serves party unity and internal democracy.

Citing examples, Yilwatda noted that the APC had achieved rare consensus outcomes in multiple states without post-primary litigation.

On defections into the APC, Yilwatda dismissed claims that Nigeria was drifting toward a one-party state. He said the movement of politicians from opposition parties into the APC was a natural outcome of political competition and organisational strength.

On party funding, according to him, the APC is owned and sustained by its members, noting that all registered members pay dues used to fund party activities and programmes.

Yilwatda has also stated that the party does not have a Board of Trustees (BoT) because it is owned, funded, and driven directly by its registered members.

Speaking during a public presentation in Abuja, Yilwatda said the APC’s structure was deliberately designed to strengthen internal democracy, accountability, and member ownership, rather than concentrating influence in a few unelected party elders.

“APC belongs to its members. That is why we do not have a Board of Trustees. Our members fund the party through dues and legitimate contributions, and that gives them true ownership and control of party affairs,” he said.

Meanwhile, the Federal High Court sitting in Akure, the Ondo State capital, has issued an ex parte order halting the state congress of the All Progressives Congress (APC) scheduled to hold tomorrow.

The presiding judge, Justice Toyin Bolaji Adegoke, restrained the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and the APC from proceeding with the congress following an application filed by aggrieved members of the party.

The party had earlier announced plans to conduct its state congress on March 3. In a statement signed by the state publicity secretary, Alex Kalejaye, the APC confirmed that the exercise was scheduled “in line with the directive of the National Working Committee (NWC).”

However, the court’s order came as a result of a motion ex parte moved by Adedayo Adedeji, SAN, on behalf of a group of aggrieved party members led by Lawrence Adebayo and 7,427 others.

The applicants challenged the legitimacy of the recent ward and local government congresses conducted on February 18 and 21, 2026, and sought to prevent the state congress from being held.

Justice Adegoke directed all parties “to maintain the status quo ante bellum before the conduct of the purported Ward and Local Government Congresses conducted on February 18 and 21 2026 and the proposed state congress scheduled for the 3rd of March 2026”.

The judge subsequently adjourned the case to March 26, 2026, for the hearing of the substantive suit.