More than 10 million Nigerians who benefited from the Federal Government’s ₦75,000 conditional cash transfer programme do not have access to mobile phones, television or social media, the National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Nentawe Yilwatda, has said.
Yilwatda made the claim while speaking with journalists after a three-day retreat of the APC National Executive Council in Maiduguri, Borno State.
According to him, the beneficiaries are mostly poor and vulnerable Nigerians who are unable to participate in public discussions about government policies because they lack access to communication devices and digital platforms.
“We have given ₦75,000 to over 10 million Nigerians across the country using the conditional cash transfer under the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Reduction.
“Mind you, these people who are poor and vulnerable don’t have telephones to make calls; they are not on social media. They don’t have television. They cannot come and challenge and discuss as we are doing here, but they are out there,” he said.
Yilwatda also criticised former Vice President and African Democratic Congress (ADC) presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, over his position on the removal of the petrol subsidy.
He argued that the removal of the subsidy had freed resources for infrastructure projects and other government programmes.
“We are constructing roads and paying people that are working on the road site, and construction is going across the country,” he said.
The APC chairman further claimed that the removal of the subsidy had improved the ability of state governments to pay salaries and pensions.
“Over 30 states could not pay salaries and pensions. After we removed subsidies, all states can pay salaries and pensions, and no state is left behind,” he said.
Yilwatda argued that restoring the subsidy would affect government programmes, including the student loan scheme and infrastructure projects.
He cited projects such as the coastal road and a gas project in the northern part of the country, saying their implementation could be affected if subsidy payments were restored.
He also accused Atiku of seeking to reverse policies of the President Bola Tinubu administration in pursuit of the presidency, saying the APC would oppose such a move.
On the outcome of the NEC retreat, Yilwatda said the party reviewed its activities at the national, state, local government, ward and polling-unit levels.
He said the APC was prepared for the 2027 general elections and disclosed that the NEC had passed a vote of confidence in President Bola Tinubu, Vice President Kashim Shettima and other APC candidates who emerged from the party’s primaries.
The party also resolved to continue reconciliation efforts across its various chapters ahead of the 2027 elections.
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