The National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Prof. Nentawe Yilwatda, has said that many politicians whom President Bola Tinubu supported over the years withdrew their backing when he declared his intention to contest the presidency in 2023.
Yilwatda spoke on Friday at the party’s national secretariat in Abuja while welcoming members of opposition parties from Sokoto, Kaduna, Jigawa, Kano and Plateau states who defected to the APC.
He said Tinubu had supported several politicians from the North and South before seeking the presidency, but many of them abandoned him when he needed their support.
“President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has always supported northern politicians because he believes in the unity of Nigeria,” Yilwatda said.
He cited Tinubu’s support for Atiku Abubakar in 2007, when the latter contested the presidency, and Nuhu Ribadu, who ran under the Action Congress of Nigeria in 2011.
Yilwatda also recalled Tinubu’s support for former President Muhammadu Buhari in 2015 and 2019.
“He has consistently worked to bring politicians together and promote unity across the country,” Yilwatda said.
According to him, Tinubu stood by Buhari even when some northern political leaders withdrew their support.
Yilwatda urged the new APC members to support Tinubu and his administration’s Renewed Hope Agenda, describing their defection as a sign of confidence in the President.
He also defended Tinubu’s performance in the North, listing the Abuja–Kaduna–Kano road, the Kano–Maiduguri road and rail projects among the infrastructure initiatives he said were being pursued by the Federal Government.
The APC chairman criticised opposition politicians for questioning Tinubu’s achievements in the region, insisting that the administration had invested in infrastructure across the country.
He also challenged opposition proposals, including a promised N500-per-litre fuel discount, arguing that the plan would cost about N20 trillion annually.
“How can you promise what you do not have when about 60 per cent of our oil production is tied to joint ventures, where the Federal Government owns only part of the production?” Yilwatda said.
He further accused former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar of selling public assets below their construction costs during the privatisation exercise.
Many politicians Tinubu supported abandoned him in 2023 – APC Chairman Yilwatda