Nentawe’s appointment a turning point in party politics – Tinubu

From Jude Owuamanam, Jos

President Bola Tinubu has described the appointment of Prof Nentawe Yilwatda as the national chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC) as a watershed in party politics in Nigeria.

Tinubu said that Nentawe’s appointment was not based on tribal or religious sentiments but on genuine efforts at national reconciliation and rebirth.

Tinubu spoke through the Chairman of the Progressive Governors’ Forum and Governor of Imo State, Hope Uzodimma, when he, alongside the governors of Benue and Sokoto states and party stakeholders, led the new chairman to Plateau State on his maiden visit since his appointment on Wednesday, August 6, 2025.

Speaking at the palace of the Chairman of the Plateau State Council of Traditional Rulers and the Gbong Gwom Jos, Jacob Gyang Buba, Uzodimma said that Tinubu wants to rebrand the APC by appointing a technocrat as the national chairman, adding that Nentawe’s appointment came with historical significance as the first national chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party, the late Solomon Lar, also hailed from Plateau State.

He said, “Mr President said I should greet you and assure you that the choice of Professor Yilwatda as the chairman of our party is not only a responsibility but evidence of his sincerity in doing politics that is not going to be based on religious, ethnic, or primordial sentiments, but that he is genuinely here to correct the fears of the past.

“President Bola Ahmed Tinubu is barely two years in office. All the troubles that besieged Nigeria, from poverty to hardship, to high cost of living, to non-availability of petroleum products, he has tried to correct.

“I tell you, within two years in office, at least Nigeria, which was in the bush, has been brought out to the road so that we can now move. I am not unaware that the process of healing these wounds came with some pain. I’m not unaware that people at the grassroots are having difficulties. I’m not unaware that the economy that was in the bush has come out and is ready to grow, but I have come to tell you that history and the country have challenged us to repair all these wounds, and only prayer will make him succeed.

He asked the people to pray for Nentawe’s success, saying, “His success will be our success. It is not about the party, it is not about the country or the office, it is about the occupant of that office. The ability of the occupant is the ability of the office; the success of the occupant is the success of the office. So, our prayer is that a brand-new chairman, a professor—you have done it before, you can do it again. In 1998, when we were challenged into a new democratic dispensation, there were a lot of complexities here, and then the man who came, engineered, navigated, and brought a civilian president was from Plateau State, the eminent Solomon Lar.

“In this country called Nigeria, we’ve come a long way. The story of Plateau State of late has been that of sweet and sour, and with what we have and what is happening now, I think we are beginning to see indications that God is now healing the land. So, we are here to show our solidarity, our support to your son, and to join you in thanking Almighty God who made it possible and to remind you once more that at this time, it’s very important to Nigeria.”

Uzodimma said that the president’s economic reforms are gradually taking shape and that the president has taken the country out of the woods.

Buba, who is also the Chairman of the Plateau State Council of Traditional Rulers and Chiefs, pleaded with President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to do everything to give Nigerians a secure environment.

He decried the state of insecurity across the country, especially in Plateau State, and urged the president and his APC-led administration to give Nigerians a breather by stopping the spate of killings in Nigeria.

He said, “I am sure that the president is not unaware. Nigerians are not safe anywhere. Sokoto is virtually my second home, but I am sad that I cannot visit Sokoto the way I would want to because of insecurity.

Buba also asked the president to rein in religious leaders who use the pulpit to spew hate messages.

“We all have a responsibility to work for the unity of this country. And let me say, please, discuss it with Mr President. Something has to be done about these religious leaders that speak evil all the time. They make us, on both sides…

“We had a stakeholders’ meeting with our governor a couple of months ago, and then everybody was saying Islam is a religion of peace, Christianity is a religion of peace, and I asked them, who are the people fighting? I don’t think any of us here has ever seen a traditional religion doing these evil things. So, what is our problem?

“We want now to mould God in our own image instead of us being in His own. Please, let us think about this and remember that we will give account to God himself about everything.”

Nentawe’s visit to Jos was like a carnival, as he was led by a long convoy of party chieftains and supporters from the airport to the city centre.

The entourage first visited the COCIN headquarters, where the pastors prayed for the success of his administration. At the Gbong Gwom’s palace, he also received the blessings of traditional rulers.