Politics
10m Beneficiaries Of Cash Transfers Don’t Have Phones – APC Chairman
The National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Nentawe Yilwatda, says more than 10 million vulnerable Nigerians who benefited from the N75,000 conditional cash transfer programme do not have access to mobile phones or social media.
Yilwatda disclosed this on Saturday while speaking with journalists after a three-day retreat of the APC National Executive Council in Maiduguri, Borno State.
The beneficiaries, whom he described as poor and vulnerable Nigerians, were largely unable to participate in public discussions about government policies because they lacked access to phones, television and social media.
“We have given 75,000 naira to over 10 million Nigerians across the country using the conditional cash transfer under the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Reduction.
“Mind you, these people who are poor and vulnerable don’t have telephones to make calls; they are not on social media. They don’t have a television. They cannot come and challenge and discuss as we are doing here, but they are out there,” he said.
Yilwatda also criticised former Vice President and African Democratic Congress presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, over his position on the fuel subsidy.
“We are constructing roads and paying people that are working on the road site, and construction is going across the country,” he said.
“Over 30 states could not pay salaries and pensions. After we removed subsidies, all states can pay salaries and pensions, and no state is left behind.
“Today, if you return it, you are saying states shouldn’t pay salaries again. And what suffering are you bringing to Nigeria?”
The APC chairman also argued that a return to fuel subsidy would affect the government’s student loan scheme and other projects.
“The projects we are doing across the country, like the coastal road and gas project to the north, which have passed Abuja, which are aimed at easing the suffering of Nigerians, will be suspended,” he said.
Yilwatda further accused Atiku of seeking to reverse the gains of the Tinubu administration in pursuit of the presidency, saying the APC and Nigerians would not accept such a move.
The APC chairman said the NEC retreat also reviewed the party’s activities at the national, state, local government, ward and polling-unit levels.
According to him, the party concluded that it remained strong and prepared for the 2027 general elections.
He said the NEC passed a vote of confidence in President Bola Tinubu, Vice President Kashim Shettima and other APC candidates who emerged from the party’s primaries for the 2027 elections.
President Bola Tinubu will attend All Progressives Congress (APC) campaign rallies in 12 states ahead of the 2027 elections.
According to the party’s campaign timetable released on Thursday, Tinubu is expected to flag-off the campaign in Kaduna on October 24, before attending rallies in 11 other states.
After the Kaduna rally, the president is scheduled to attend rallies in Rivers on November 7, Plateau on November 14 and Oyo on November 21.
He is also expected at rallies in Borno, Enugu and Bauchi on November 25, 28 and 29, respectively.
Tinubu is not scheduled to attend rallies in 13 other states in November. The states are Cross River (November 2), Gombe (November 3), Nasarawa (November 4), Ekiti (November 5), Ebonyi (November 9), Jigawa (November 10), Ondo (November 11), Edo (November 12), Yobe (November 16), Kebbi (November 17), Akwa Ibom (November 18), Anambra (November 19) and Benue (November 30).
Tinubu is expected to continue his campaign tour in December, with rallies scheduled for Sokoto on December 5, Delta on December 12 and Kano on December 17.
His final two appearances are scheduled for Adamawa on January 4 and Lagos on January 9, while party leaders will represent him at rallies in the remaining 12 states scheduled for December.
Overall, the president is scheduled to attend rallies in 12 of Nigeria’s 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).
Three of the states Tinubu is scheduled to visit — Oyo, Bauchi and Adamawa — have prominent opposition figures linked to the 2027 presidential race.
Seyi Makinde, governor of Oyo, is the presidential candidate of the Allied Peoples Movement (APM), which is also the ruling party in Bauchi.
Adamawa is the home state of former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar, the African Democratic Congress (ADC) presidential candidate.
At the inauguration of the APC presidential campaign council at the Presidential Villa in Abuja on Wednesday, Tinubu said he would not attend every campaign rally, saying governance remained a priority.
He, however, said he would make time to address Nigerians directly as party leaders criss-cross the states and local governments to campaign for his re-election.
On Tuesday, the APC announced an expanded list of its presidential campaign council, with Nyesom Wike, the FCT minister; Ademola Adeleke, governor of Osun; and Chukwuma Soludo, governor of Anambra, among the notable additions.
A former Managing Director of the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), Arc Aminu Dabo, has resigned his membership of the All Progressives Congress (APC) with immediate effect.
Dabo, who served as the APC caucus chairman in Dambatta Local Government Area of Kano State, announced his resignation in a letter dated October 7, 2026, addressed to the party chairman of Dambatta Gabas Ward.
In the letter, Dabo said his decision followed careful consideration of personal reasons and his future endeavours.
He confirmed that he had formally submitted his resignation to the appropriate party officials in Dambatta for necessary action.
The former NPA managing director expressed appreciation to the APC leadership for the opportunity to serve, as well as the support and confidence reposed in him.
“I remain grateful for the cordial relationship I enjoyed and appreciative of the experience gained during my time of service,” he said.
He also thanked the party leadership for allowing him to contribute to its development and progress.
Dabo was a governorship aspirant in Kano State and previously served as the state’s Commissioner for Land.
He is also the proprietor and chief executive officer of Aminu Dabo College of Health Sciences and Technology and Aminu Dabo College of Nursing Sciences, both located in Kano.
Unknown thugs have reportedly attacked the secretariat of the Nigeria Democratic Congress, NDC, in Ikpoba-Okha Local Government Area of Edo State.
The attack, which was reported on Wednesday, comes barely one week after NDC supporters were attacked in Enugu, resulting in the death of one person.
No casualties was reported in the Edo attack, but footage of the incident showed that properties at the secretariat were damaged.
Report says the incident marks the latest in a series of violent disruptions targeting opposition political infrastructure across the state.
There are growing concerns over political intolerance and targeted intimidation ahead of the 2027 general elections.
Civil society groups and political analysts have expressed alarm over the recurring attacks on party secretariats, warning that unchecked political violence threatens the credibility of the democratic process.
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