The National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Professor Nentawe Yilwatda, has approved the appointment of 15 senior aides, including Special Advisers, Advisers and Senior Special Assistants (SSAs).
Gatekeepers News reports that the appointments, according to the party, are intended to strengthen the APC’s administrative and strategic capacity and form part of ongoing efforts to enhance coordination, policy formulation and stakeholder engagement at the party’s national secretariat.
The newly appointed aides are expected to deploy their experience and professionalism in supporting the national chairman in the discharge of his duties.
However, the development has drawn criticism from opposition parties, including the Labour Party (LP), African Democratic Congress (ADC) and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), which described the appointments as an extension of the ruling party’s political patronage system at a time many Nigerians are facing economic hardship.
Reacting, the immediate past National Chairman of the ADC, Ralph Nwosu, said the decision did not come as a surprise, citing what he described as a trend of bloated appointments under President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s administration.
“The ruling APC is just doing whatever it wants without any recourse to what Nigerians are passing through in terms of suffering. Tell me where the funds for the remuneration of these aides will come from?” Nwosu said.
He accused the party of taking steps that do not support effective political management or national development, adding, “When I was ADC National Chairman, I never had more than three aides.”
Former PDP National Vice Chairman (South-West), Eddy Olafeso, also criticised the move, describing the APC as a profligacy-driven political party that wastes resources at both party and government levels.
“If a national chairman is making such bogus appointments, one can only imagine what is happening at the government level,” Olafeso said.
Similarly, the spokesman for the Labour Party’s presidential candidate in the 2023 election, Tanko Yinusa, lamented what he described as increasing decay and wastage under the APC, accusing the ruling party of ignoring the hardship faced by Nigerians.
He faulted the party for failing to devote sufficient resources to critical sectors such as education and security.
