Former Governor of Plateau State, Sen. Simon Lalong, says the emergence of Prof. Nentawe Yilwatda as the National Chairman of the ruling All Progressives Congress is an added advantage to the President Bola Ahmed Tinubu-led administration.
Lalong, who led stalwarts of the party from Plateau State on a solidarity visit to Yilwatda at the national secretariat of the party in Abuja, referred to his experience as the Resident Electoral Commissioner of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to reinforce his assertion.
Lalong, who represents Plateau South senatorial district, faulted the notion that Yilwatda would not be able to oversee the party because he was not a former governor like his predecessors.
Assuring that Plateau State remains a stronghold of the APC, he described Yilwatda as a master strategist with the capacity to speak the language of the middle class and the youths to galvanise for the party.
“When you talk about party, you are talking about election. What is it about election that an electoral officer does not know? If he knows, it is an added advantage to this party,” he said.
“Yes, it used to be that before you become National Chairman, you must be governor or former governor. Gone are the days. We have seen people who are not former governors becoming national chairmen of the party. We have also seen some national chairmen of the party, former governors, coming here for one reason or another. They didn’t spend time.
“They were put out. But in this one, I see a new trend. Our new trend is the gap between the old and the new. So, if the whole exercise is about movement of younger ones, movement of women and children, then it means that you must get somebody that can speak their language. I hope you understand. You now have to get somebody that understands their language. If you understand their language, they also understand his language. That is what we have done.”
Lalong dismissed the threat posed by the opposition African Democratic Congress (ADC), adding that the tricks in their baggage are not unusual for the APC-led administration.
The former Minister of Women Affairs, Pauline Tallen, expressed gratitude to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu for the honour done to Plateau State over the appointment of Yilwatda as the national chairman of the party.
She noted: “It is a new Plateau, and it is going to be a new APC all over the country. What is happening is just a trick. As my leader has rightly said, we are not afraid of those leaving the party because we know more are coming.
“In Plateau, a lot of other parties, including the ruling party in the state, are coming to us. That is a good sign.
And the coming of the national chairman will open more doors for greater things for Mr. President.”
