The National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Prof. Nantewe Yilwatda, has asked party members and support groups to suspend plans to purchase the party’s 2027 presidential nomination forms for Bola Tinubu, saying the forms have already been procured.
Yilwatda made the announcement on Monday at the party’s national secretariat in Abuja.
According to him, a group of youths from Kogi State had paid N100 million in advance for the purchase of the nomination form on behalf of the president.
The chairman spoke to journalists after Gov. Ahmed Ododo visited him alongside the youths to present a N100 million cheque from Zenith Bank for the forms.
“With this payment, I want to announce that nobody should bother to bring money to buy forms for President Tinubu again, because the forms have been procured in advance. I want to thank the Kogi youths for this procurement and act of patriotism,” he said.
Yilwatda commended the youths, describing their action as a departure from what he termed the old culture where young people were largely passive in political processes. He said their initiative reflected a commitment to shaping a better future.
He added that the move was driven by what the youths considered people-oriented programmes and policies introduced by the Tinubu administration since assuming office in 2023.
“Today is one of the happiest moments in this party because we are seeing young men and women from the state taking decisive action,” he said.
According to the APC chairman, the youths expressed confidence in the president’s leadership, citing improvements in economic indicators, security efforts in Kogi State in collaboration with the state government, and opportunities extended to young people through political appointments.
He also noted that they acknowledged infrastructure development and youth empowerment initiatives undertaken by the Kogi State Government.
“To me, this is the first time in the history of Nigeria that youths are coming forward in this manner,” Yilwatda said, describing them as a beacon and example for other young people across the country.
In his remarks, Gov. Ododo said youths in the state appreciated the recognition and inclusion given to them under President Tinubu’s administration.
“In the history of this country, no president has ever given the youth as much space as President Tinubu, of which I am a beneficiary,” the governor said.