The National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Prof. Nentawe Yilwatda, has said opposition parties in the country spend more time talking on television rather than engaging in grassroots mobilisation.
Yilwatda stated this on Sunday during an interview on Trust TV, responding to questions about political mobilisation and allegations that the ruling party was working to entrench a one-party system.
“Opposition parties spend more time on TV talking,” the APC chairman said.
“It’s not our duty to help our enemies to grow. We can’t feed our enemies. It’s not our duty. They should labour, they should go to the streets,” he added.
He said the APC’s strength was built largely through behind-the-scenes mobilisation across the country rather than media appearances.
“Yesterday, I came back from Taraba. Tomorrow, I will be in Katsina. I am not receiving a governor; I am going for mobilisation. I am engaging people, I am talking to people.
“Four days ago, I was in a different state. On Saturday, I will be in another state, going round, talking to people, mobilising behind the scenes,” Yilwatda said.
According to him, what the public sees on television is only the outcome of political work, not the process.
“So we spend more time behind the scenes than what you see on TV. What you see on TV is the outcome, but the process is behind the scenes.
“Why can’t they also spend more time behind the scenes so we can see defectors from APC to their parties?” he asked.
Reacting to claims that the APC was planning to impose a one-party system in Nigeria, and remarks previously attributed to his predecessor, Abdullahi Ganduje, that it would not be a big deal if Nigeria became a one-party state, Yilwatda dismissed the suggestion.
“No. If everybody in Nigeria rather supports the APC, we will be happy if everybody in Nigeria supports the APC — not a one-party system — because we want to have people who are also challenging us,” he said.
He stressed that there had been no move by the party or its leadership to alter the country’s legal framework to promote a single-party structure.
“That is why nobody in the APC, whether from the governors, the legislators, the president, the party or anybody, has moved that we should amend the constitution of Nigeria to accommodate one-party or amend the electoral act to accommodate one-party.
“As long as we’ve not amended any of these legal frameworks and we have 18 political parties,” he said.
VANGUARD.
