The Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management, and Social Development, Nentawe Yilwatda, has been named the new national chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC).
Yilwatda’s emergence ends weeks of speculation over who would succeed Abdullahi Umar Ganduje, who resigned from the position citing health concerns.
His appointment was finalised late Wednesday night at a high-level meeting involving President Bola Tinubu, governors elected on the party’s platform, and other key stakeholders at the Presidential Villa in Abuja.
A member of the party’s national working committee (NWC), who confirmed the development, said the decision was guided by the leadership’s resolve to prioritise technocratic leadership over “career politicians” in repositioning the party.
According to the NWC source, the choice of Yilwatda, a Christian, was also strategic in addressing religious imbalances within the APC’s national leadership.
Yilwatda, who was the APC’s governorship candidate in Plateau during the 2023 elections, was appointed minister of humanitarian affairs in 2024.
Born on August 8, 1968, in Dungung, Kanke LGA of Plateau State, he is the son of the late Reverend and Mrs. Toma Yilwatda.
He served as the resident electoral commissioner in Benue from 2017 after his appointment by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), where he brought what party insiders described as “vast electoral and administrative experience.”
Yilwatda is a registered engineer with the Council for the Regulation of Engineering in Nigeria (COREN), and also a member of the Nigerian Society of Engineers, Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers, and Solar Society of Nigeria.
