, Professor Nentawe Yilwatda){kind=link}
A recent comment by the new National Chairman of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), Professor Nentawe Yilwatda, has sparked a reaction from the African Democratic Congress (ADC) coalition.
AFRIPOST reports that, days back, during the appointment of Yilwatda as the new APC national chairman, he made an assertive statement, declaring that in 2027, there would be no vacancy. He said, “No vacancy in Aso Rock come 2027.”
However, the statement has resulted in a response from the ADC coalition camp. The ADC’s National Publicity Secretary, Mallam Bolaji, in a statement issued yesterday, plainly categorised the statement by Yilwatda as undemocratic while noting that the office of the Nigerian president is not a family business that anyone can simply take ownership of.
Speaking further, ADC spokesperson cautioned the ruling party to watch their utterances and not give Nigerians the impression that the democratic process and elections don’t work in the country.
Read the full statement read:
The APC Chairman’s recent declaration of “no vacancy in Aso Rock” is presumptuous and disrespectful of Nigerian people, who are tired of hunger, insecurity, joblessness, and unfulfilled promises, and therefore cannot wait to reclaim their future at the ballot box.
We understand why APC is afraid, and would wish that they could somehow avoid that day of reckoning with the ballot box.
The very fact of periodic elections means that every incumbent must renew its mandate. Therefore, regardless of what APC thinks, there will be vacancy at the Presidential Villa in 2027.
President Tinubu must re-apply to the Nigerian people, and he must show Nigerians why they should allow him to continue on the job, despite his ruinous policies that have made life miserable for the majority.
In 2027, APC and President Tinubu will be evaluated based on Key Performance Indicators (KPI) of youth employment, security of lives, hunger and poverty, electricity supply, and justice to all.
And no amount of propaganda can change their report cards in the eyes of Nigerians.
While the APC government and its media operatives continue to clap for themselves and award themselves medals of excellence, the price of food has continued to rise beyond the reach of the majority of Nigerians, an ever-increasing number of our communities are being taken over by bandits, and our Naira remains battered and broken.
This is why, to declare “no vacancy” two years before an election, is to spit in the face of every Nigerian who still believes in their democratic power. It is to say: your vote does not matter.
It is to mock the pain of the mothers and fathers who cannot afford food, the graduate who cannot find a job, and the entrepreneurs whose businesses have collapsed due to no fault of theirs.
Let it be known, the APC will have to reapply for the job of leading this country in 2027, and they do not get to mark their own papers.