The North-Central geopolitical zone has reclaimed the national chairmanship of the All Progressives Congress (APC), following the emergence of Professor Nentawe Yilwatda as the party’s consensus nominee.

Although the position was originally zoned to the North-Central and held by Senator Abdullahi Adamu until his resignation in August 2023, it was subsequently occupied by former Kano State Governor, Abdullahi Ganduje, from the North-West.

THEWILL reports that months of intense lobbying and high-level consultations by stakeholders from the region have paid off, culminating in a late-night meeting on Wednesday between President Bola Tinubu and APC governors, where Yilwatda was unanimously picked to succeed Ganduje, who recently stepped down.

According to Premium Times, the APC National Executive Committee (NEC) is expected to ratify Yilwatda’s appointment during its meeting scheduled for 2:00 p.m. on Thursday at the Banquet Hall of the State House, Presidential Villa, Abuja.

Yilwatda, 56, hails from Plateau State and currently serves as the Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation.

His nomination aligns with the party’s zoning arrangement, which reserves the national chairmanship for the North-Central zone, comprising Benue, Kwara, Kogi, Nasarawa, Niger, and Plateau states.

A former engineering lecturer at the Federal University of Agriculture, Makurdi, Yilwatda also served as a Resident Electoral Commissioner with the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) from 2017 to 2021, overseeing elections in Benue, Anambra, Osun, Rivers, and Cross River states.

He was the APC governorship candidate in Plateau State during the 2023 general elections but lost to the Peoples Democratic Party’s (PDP) candidate, Governor Caleb Manasseh Mutfwang.