APC chairman Nentawe Yilwatda says Atiku Abubakar, Peter Obi, Seyi Makinde and other rivals cannot match Tinubu ahead of the 2027 election
The All Progressives Congress (APC) has declared that opposition figures Atiku Abubakar, Peter Obi, Donald Duke and Seyi Makinde cannot match President Bola Tinubu in the 2027 presidential election.
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The party’s National Chairman, Professor Nentawe Yilwatda, made the assertion on Thursday while receiving members of the Forum of APC House of Representatives Aspirants at the party’s national secretariat in Abuja.
Yilwatda argued that Tinubu’s record in office would compare favourably with those of his potential challengers, insisting that no opposition party currently had a candidate with a stronger record.
“No political party, as it stands today, has a more credible candidate than President Bola Ahmed Tinubu,” he said.
The APC chairman added that a side-by-side comparison of the candidates’ records would, in his view, demonstrate Tinubu’s achievements, particularly in institution-building.
“We have facts; we have records that if we put them vis-à-vis any other candidate that is on this ballot, none match our own candidate,” Yilwatda said.
He also highlighted infrastructure development, questioning the impact of a reported N300 billion road budget during the administration of former President Olusegun Obasanjo, when Atiku Abubakar served as vice-president.
Yilwatda challenged his audience to identify a major road constructed with the funds, claiming that the results were difficult to trace.
“We are struggling to find the roads,” he said, before contrasting the period with what he described as the number of roads constructed under Tinubu’s administration.
“I can pinpoint many roads across the country that were constructed just in three years,” he added.
The remarks form part of the APC’s efforts to defend Tinubu’s record and project him as its preferred candidate ahead of the 2027 general election.
However, Yilwatda’s comments represent the ruling party’s assessment of the president and his potential opponents.
The claims about infrastructure spending and road construction were not independently substantiated in the report.
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The 2027 presidential contest is expected to draw candidates from several political parties, with economic conditions, infrastructure, security and governance likely to feature prominently in the campaign.
