{"id":95546,"date":"2025-10-21T14:49:16","date_gmt":"2025-10-21T14:49:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/?p=95546"},"modified":"2025-10-21T14:49:16","modified_gmt":"2025-10-21T14:49:16","slug":"tinubus-2027-dream-vs-nentawes-personal-grudge-who-really-owns-the-apc","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/?p=95546","title":{"rendered":"Tinubu\u2019s 2027 dream vs. Nentawe\u2019s personal grudge: Who really owns the APC?"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Paul Soempit<\/strong><\/p>\n

In the brutal terrain of Nigerian politics, grudges don\u2019t die \u2014 they calcify. And if there\u2019s any fresh proof of this, it\u2019s playing out right now in Plateau State, where the National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Professor Yilwatda Nentawe, appears to be using the party as a weapon for personal revenge \u2014 not national progress.<\/p>\n

This isn\u2019t just another North Central power squabble. This is political cannibalism at the heart of a ruling party trying to rebrand itself as a vessel of national unity and inclusion under President Bola Tinubu\u2019s “Renewed Hope Agenda.” And make no mistake: if the President doesn\u2019t intervene, what\u2019s festering in Plateau could metastasize into a full-blown electoral cancer by 2027.<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s call it what it is: Nentawe\u2019s obsession with Governor Caleb Mutfwang is no longer political competition \u2014 it\u2019s vendetta politics dressed in party robes.<\/p>\n

A Dangerous Contradiction<\/strong><\/p>\n

Two years ago, Nentawe lost the Plateau governorship race \u2014 badly \u2014 to Caleb Mutfwang, a man with far more grassroots traction and, by all accounts, a deeper moral spine. Rather than move on and build alliances for the future, Nentawe has chosen to dig in his heels, sabotage potential bridges, and now, stunningly, block Mutfwang from defecting to the APC.<\/p>\n

Let that sink in: at a time when President Tinubu is shaking hands with opposition governors across Nigeria \u2014 from Cross River to Zamfara \u2014 his own party chairman is slamming the door shut on a sitting governor in a state with over 2.5 million registered voters. A governor who has arguably delivered more in two years than many do in eight.<\/p>\n

And why? Because Nentawe still hasn\u2019t healed from 2023. If that\u2019s not self-sabotage, then it\u2019s sabotage of the worst kind \u2014 the kind that\u2019s mistaken for strategy.<\/p>\n

Mutfwang: The Beautiful Bride They Fear<\/strong><\/p>\n

So what makes Mutfwang the political bride that even his enemies can\u2019t ignore?<\/p>\n

He inherited a Plateau State marred by chronic insecurity, abandoned infrastructure, and years of political erosion. Yet, in just 24 months, he\u2019s rekindled hope with tangible progress. Reconstructed roads. Revived public transport with Metro Buses. Rejuvenated the long-dead Jos Main Market. Pushed education reforms. Slashed tuition fees. Renovated healthcare facilities. Brought women and youth into government. Built legal frameworks. Injected real, measurable governance into a broken system.<\/p>\n

And he did all this while his own hometown, Mangu, was bleeding from insecurity.<\/p>\n

Sure, Abia and Enugu may have moved faster in some areas \u2014 but let\u2019s not pretend they were fighting the same war Mutfwang was. He had to rebuild while dodging bullets.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s the kind of record that should have the APC rolling out a red carpet, not laying landmines.<\/p>\n

The Grudge That Could Burn the House<\/strong><\/p>\n

Professor Nentawe\u2019s alleged campaign to block Mutfwang\u2019s entry into the APC \u2014 pushed through via a \u201cstakeholders\u2019 motion\u201d in Jos \u2014 reeks of political cowardice masquerading as consensus.<\/p>\n

What does it say about a national chairman who’d rather poison the well than share the wine?<\/p>\n

Even worse, there are whispers \u2014 now nearly a roar \u2014 that Nentawe still eyes the governorship in 2027. Is this what it\u2019s really about? Preserving the APC ticket for himself by keeping Mutfwang out? If so, then he isn\u2019t just a bad loser; he\u2019s a liability to Tinubu\u2019s 2027 strategy.<\/p>\n

You can\u2019t claim to support the President’s re-election while actively repelling the kind of grassroots powerhouse that could swing the vote in the North Central.<\/p>\n

Tinubu Must Decide: Party or Personality?<\/strong><\/p>\n

President Tinubu built his empire on a political philosophy of inclusion. He knows how to build coalitions, mend fences, and win across divides. From the South West to the South East, he\u2019s been pulling in heavyweights with one goal: 2027.<\/p>\n

The Plateau mess now tests that strategy.<\/p>\n

Will Tinubu allow one man\u2019s vendetta to override the party\u2019s national interests? Or will he stamp his authority and remind the APC that it’s not a cult of bitterness but a coalition of interests?<\/p>\n

The Renewed Hope Advocates of Nigeria (RHAN) are right: Plateau is too strategic to be sacrificed on the altar of personal pride. Tinubu must call his Chairman to order \u2014 fast. Because if this continues, 2023 will look like a warm-up to a 2027 implosion.<\/p>\n

Final Word: Open the Door or Lose the House<\/strong><\/p>\n

Governor Caleb Mutfwang has something that many politicians lack \u2014 a track record and a conscience. If the APC were smart, it would bring him in, amplify his successes, and ride his credibility straight into 2027.<\/p>\n

Instead, the party \u2014 under Nentawe\u2019s iron-fisted pettiness \u2014 is doing the opposite.<\/p>\n

This isn\u2019t just a local drama. It\u2019s a test of whether the APC is still a national party or has become a platform for petty score-settling.<\/p>\n

Tinubu must decide: will 2027 be about revenge or renewal?<\/p>\n

Because the road to victory is paved with open doors \u2014 not closed minds.<\/p>\n

\u25cf Soempit, a political analyst, sent this piece from Abuja.<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Paul Soempit In the brutal terrain of Nigerian politics, grudges don\u2019t die \u2014 they calcify. And if there\u2019s any fresh proof of this, it\u2019s playing out right now in Plateau State, where the National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Professor Yilwatda Nentawe, appears to be using the party as a weapon for […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":62961,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5782],"tags":[7374,7344,56],"class_list":["post-95546","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-opinion","tag-grudge","tag-nentawe","tag-tinubu"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/95546","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=95546"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/95546\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/62961"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=95546"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=95546"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=95546"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}