The National Chairman of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), Prof. Nentawe Yilwatda, has approved the appointment of 15 aides, including Special Advisers, Advisers and Senior Special Assistants (SSAs).
The appointments are aimed at strengthening the administrative and strategic capacity of the party. They also form part of ongoing efforts to enhance effective coordination, policy formulation and stakeholders’ engagement within the party’s national secretariat.
The newly appointed aides are expected to bring their wealth of experience and professionalism to bear in supporting the national chairman in the discharge of his duties.
Meanwhile, stakeholders in the Labour Party (LP), African Democratic Congress (ADC) and Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) have condemned the appointments, describing them as part of the ruling party’s political patronage system at the expense of Nigerians grappling with economic hardship.
Reacting, the immediate past National Chairman of the ADC, Ralph Nwosu, said Yilwatda’s action was not surprising, considering what he described as the bloated appointments under President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s administration.
According to him, “the ruling APC is just doing whatever it wants without any recourse to what Nigerians are passing through in terms of suffering. Tell me where the funds for the remuneration of these aides will come from?”
He, however, accused the ruling party of taking steps that do not support effective political management and national development.
“When I was ADC National Chairman, I never had more than three aides,” he added.
Former PDP National Vice Chairman (South-West), Eddy Olafeso, described the APC as a profligacy-driven political party, accusing it of wasting resources at the party level at the expense of Nigerians.
“If a national chairman is making such bogus appointments, one can only imagine what is happening at the government level,” he said.
Similarly, Spokesman for the Labour Party’s presidential candidate in the 2023 election, Tanko Yinusa, lamented what he described as the level of decay and wastage the APC has introduced into governance, without regard for the suffering of Nigerians.
He criticised the ruling party for failing to devote adequate resources to education, security and other critical sectors.
