July 24, (THEWILL) — Nigeria’s Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation, Professor Nentawe Yilwatda, was sworn in on Thursday as the new National Chairman of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).
Yilwadta was sworn in as chairman at about 2.50 p.m. following his adoption by the National Executive Committee (NEC) of the party at its ongoing meeting at the Banquet Hall of the Presidential Villa.
The Chairman of the Progressive Governors Forum (PGF) and governor of Imo State, Hope Uzodinma, moved the motion for his adoption. The motion was seconded by the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Abbas Tajudeen.
He replaces former National Chairman, Abdullahi Ganduje, who resigned on June 27.
THEWILL earlier reported that Yelewata emerged as the new APC chairman following a consensus and high-level consultations between President Bola Tinubu and Progressive Governors, along with the party’s chairmen in the 36 states.
His emergence aligns with the party’s zoning arrangement, which allocated the national chairmanship to the North-Central geopolitical zone comprising Benue, Kwara, Kogi, Nasarawa, Niger, and Plateau states.
The 56-year-old from Plateau State, a lecturer at the Faculty of Engineering, Federal University of Agriculture, Makurdi, had served as a Resident Electoral Commissioner for the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) between 2017 and 2021, overseeing elections in Benue, Anambra, Osun, Rivers, and Cross River states.
He was the APC’s gubernatorial candidate in Plateau State during the 2023 general elections. Yilwatda, however, lost to Governor Caleb Manasseh Mutfwang of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
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