Nantewe Yilwatda, the All Progressives Congress national chairman, has asked the party’s members and groups planning to purchase the 2027 presidential nomination form for President Bola Tinubu to shelve the idea.

He said this in Abuja on Monday at the party’s national secretariat. The chairman said that a group of youths from Kogi had already paid N100 million in advance for the purchase of the form.

The APC chair spoke to journalists after Governor Ahmed Ododo visited him, alongside some youths from Kogi, to present a N100 million Zenith Bank cheque for the form.

“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.

He applauded the youths, saying they represented a total departure from the past culture in which youths were hangers-on, noting that they took the initiative to lead toward a better future.

He said the youth’s action was informed by the people-oriented programmes and policies of the Tinubu-led administration since he assumed office in 2023.

“Today is one of the happiest moments in this party because we are seeing young men, youths from the state, taking a decisive action,” he said.

According to Mr Yilwatda, Kogi youths are not asking what the government or President Tinubu will do for them, but are asking what they can do to support him. This, he said, was because they knew he would do much more for their people and Nigerians in general if he were re-elected as president in 2027.

The APC national chairman said the youths had given valid reasons for wanting Tinubu re-elected.

“They said the economy has improved and all indices are looking green and positive, and that President Tinubu is tackling security in their state, along with the state governor and has given them political appointments.

“They also said the state governor has done excellently well in terms of infrastructure and  has connected roads and empowered the youths. To me, this is the first time in the history of Nigeria that youths are coming forward,” the APC chairman said.

(NAN)