Yilwatda: Tinubu’s Trans-Sahara Highway’ll Transform Northern Economy, Security

*Says party’s structure formidable ahead 2027 with 13 million membership

Adedayo Akinwale in Abuja and Yemi Kosoko in Jos

The National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Prof. Nentawe Yilwatda, has described the ongoing reconstruction of the Akwanga-Jos section of the Trans-Sahara Super Highway as a landmark infrastructure that would transform economic activities, improve security and deepen national integration across Nigeria.

Yilwatda stated this during an inspection tour of the project, where he expressed satisfaction with the pace of work and commended the commitment of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s administration to delivering critical road infrastructure across the country.

The APC national chairman said the project represented one of the most significant federal investments in the region in decades, noting that the corridor had suffered years of neglect despite its strategic importance to socio-economic development in the North-Central and North-East regions.

According to him, the reconstruction formed part of the larger Trans-Sahara Superhighway corridor, stretching from Calabar through Ebonyi, Enugu, Benue, Abuja and Jos, before extending to Gombe, Biu and Maiduguri, linking several geopolitical zones and creating a seamless transport network across the country.

He said the highway, which spans more than 1,400 kilometres, would serve as a catalyst for trade, investment and national cohesion by connecting communities, markets and businesses across the South-South, South-East, North-Central and North-East regions.

Yilwatda noted that the Akwanga-Jos road, originally constructed around 1972, had not witnessed major rehabilitation for more than five decades, with successive interventions limited largely to palliative repairs and patchwork.

“For over five decades, since the days of the late Joseph Gomwalk around 1972, this corridor witnessed only piecemeal patching. Communities along the Nasarawa-Plateau axis rarely saw federal capital projects running into even N10 billion. Today, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has committed hundreds of billions of naira to build an infrastructure asset designed to endure for over a century,” he said.

APC’s Structure is Formidable Ahead 2027, We’ve 13m Members Positioned for Election

In another development, the APC national chairman has declared membership strength of approximately 13 million members, giving it a significant advantage over other political parties ahead of the 2027 general election.

Yilwatda made this known while receiving a pre-election fact-finding mission of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), led by former Vice-President of Sierra Leone Victor Foh, over the weekend.

In a statement by his Special Adviser on Media and information Strategy, Abimbola Tooki, he said the party received the mission with other members of the National Working Committee (NWC) at the party’s secretariat in Abuja.

He said the APC had, over the years, built an extensive and well-coordinated political organisation that distinguished it from other political parties in Nigeria and placed it in a strong position to mobilise voters and compete effectively in the 2027 elections.

The chairman disclosed that the APC had approximately 13 million registered members spread across all local government areas in Nigeria, with detailed records of members and membership identity cards designed to facilitate verification through their National Identification Numbers (NIN) and voter identification details.

Yilwatda noted: “The party’s strength is rooted not merely in its electoral victories but also in its verifiable membership database, grassroots structures, elected representatives, nationwide support groups and established internal processes.

“Our party is the largest political party in Nigeria. In terms of structure, organisation and membership, no other political party comes close to us. We are approximately three times larger than the next political party in the country,”

The National Chairman explained that the party’s membership database and identification system provide a strong foundation for effective grassroots engagement, mobilisation, internal coordination and electoral planning.

According to him, the APC has more than 261,000 executive members across its organisational hierarchy, a network he described as a major source of its political strength and nationwide reach.

He noted that the party’s structure enables it to maintain contact with its members and supporters at the grassroots while coordinating political activities and campaign strategies across the country.

The APC National Chairman also pointed to the party’s numerical strength in elected offices as evidence of its national acceptance and organisational reach, disclosing that the party has 31 governors out of 36, 88 senators out of the 109-member Senate and 208 members of the House of Representatives out of 360 seats.

He added that the party also enjoyed a significant presence in state Houses of Assembly across the country.

Yilwatda said this representation provides the APC with an extensive network of political leadership and elected officials capable of connecting government policies with citizens and mobilising support at the federal, state and local government levels.

He, however, added that the party’s strength was not limited to elected officeholders, as it also enjoyed support from a broad range of organised groups, including youth, women and persons with disabilities.

“These structures are the foundation of our strength. We have built an organisation that reaches every part of the country and gives us the capacity to engage Nigerians across different demographics,” he said.

Earlier, head of the ECOWAS pre-election fact-finding mission explained that the mission was undertaking a political assessment aimed at contributing to the organisation of free, fair and transparent elections in Nigeria.

Foh said the mission’s work would be guided by systematic observation, verification and the collection of reliable data rather than assumptions or arbitrary conclusions.

“Our monitoring is scientific, and our decisions on issues are based on scientific observation. We verify information before making any pronouncement, and we use a robust application system to collect data. Our reports are therefore not arbitrary,” he said.