APC NEC swears in new national chairman, Pays tribute to late Buhari

 President Bola Tinubu on Thursday presided over the 14th meeting of the All Progressives Congress (APC) National Executive Committee (NEC) at the State House Conference Centre, Abuja.

The high-profile gathering, which included Vice-President Kashim Shettima, Senate President Godswill Akpabio, House Speaker Tajudeen Abbas, APC governors, and past party leaders, focused on critical party leadership changes and tributes to a fallen leader.

The emergency meeting, which commenced at approximately 2:15 pm after opening prayers led by the Deputy Speaker of the House, Benjamin Kalu, saw the swearing-in of Professor Nentawe Goshwe Yilwatda as the new substantive national chairman of the APC.

Professor Yilwatda, formerly the Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation, takes over weeks after the former APC National Chairman, Dr. Abdullahi Ganduje, resigned, citing health reasons on June 27, 2025.

Imo State Governor, Hope Uzodimma, who leads the Progressive Governors’ Forum, was present with 24 APC governors.

The meeting agenda included remarks by the Acting National Chairman, Bukar Dalori, followed by an acceptance speech from the newly sworn-in National Chairman, and an address by President Tinubu.

A significant portion of the meeting was dedicated to honoring the immediate past President, Muhammadu Buhari, who passed away on July 13, 2025, at a London Clinic.

Following a minute of silence in Buhari’s honor, Professor Yemi Osinbajo, who served as his Vice President, led a session of tribute. Osinbajo remembered Buhari as an elected leader who steered the APC to victory in the 2015 general elections.

Ganduje’s resignation last month created a significant vacancy and reignited agitation within the party, particularly from the North-Central zone.

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This zone had previously lost the chairmanship seat when Senator Abdullahi Adamu (from Nasarawa, North-Central) resigned in July 2023, and Ganduje (from Kano, North-West) was subsequently chosen by the NEC in August 2023.

Party stalwarts from the North-Central have consistently argued that, under the APC’s internal power-sharing formula, the chairmanship should revert to their zone.

The appointment of Professor Nentawe Yilwatda, who hails from Plateau State in the North-Central, addresses this regional demand.

Under the APC constitution, the NEC functions as the party’s highest decision-making body between national conventions.

Its composition typically includes the President and Vice-President (if party members), all APC state governors, principal officers of the National Assembly from the party, members of the National Working Committee (NWC), serving and former national officers, state party chairmen and secretaries, and leaders of recognized party organs.

The NEC holds the power to fill national vacancies, approve budgets, alter zoning arrangements, and, when necessary, delegate its powers to the NWC, a measure famously adopted during the COVID-19 era.

Since its formation in 2013 from the merger of the ACN, CPC, ANPP, a faction of APGA, and the “new PDP,” the APC’s NEC has been instrumental in validating key processes, including the selection of its presidential candidates.