The National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Nigeria, Prof. Nentawe Yilwatda, has called on Nigerians to hold their governors and chairmen of local governments responsible for the economic hardships they endure.
He made the call on Monday in Abuja at the public presentation of “Vicious Red Circle,” a book on human trafficking written by Alex Oriaku. According to Yilwatda, Nigerians should start asking subnational leaders for tangible development and people-centered projects.
He explained that in spite of the steep increase in monthly federal allocations, most of the governors were not converting the funds into physical development to enhance the well-being of the people.
“No Nigerian governor gets anything less than three or four times what they were getting previously. Just two years ago, a total of ₦400 billion was being shared every month, but allocations have increased to ₦2.2 trillion presently. Therefore, they can do more for the people,” Yilwatda clarified.
The chairman of the APC, who came into office amid mounting criticism of the government’s economic policies, insisted President Bola Tinubu’s administration was leading the country towards recovery.
The gathering also addressed the long-standing issue of human trafficking, with speakers highlighting Nigeria’s continued status as both a source and destination country for trafficked persons.
National Intelligence Agency (NIA) Director-General Mohammed Mohammed gave a portrait of human trafficking as a transnational organised crime as perilous as drug and arms trafficking. He stressed that the fight against it must be a “whole-of-society approach” and urged cooperation between government, civil society, and religious groups.
Reviewing the book, President of the Nigerian Institute of Public Relations, Dr. Ike Neliaku, traced trafficking to corruption and exploitation and called for Nigerians to drop the “culture of silence” that perpetuates such acts.
Author Alex Oriaku stated that “Vicious Red Circle” reveals the cycle of manipulation and hopelessness that perpetuates human trafficking, and continued, “It’s a circle that preys on the desperate, the vulnerable, and the unseen.”
In a related event, the Chief Press Secretary to the governor of Imo State, Hon. Oguwuike Nwachuku, stated that Governor Hope Uzodimma has utilized heightened allocations to develop infrastructure and welfare in the state, and workers currently receive a minimum wage of ₦104,000.
The African Democratic Congress (ADC) condemned Yilwatda’s statement, accusing the APC of hypocrisy.
ADC National Publicity Secretary, Malam Bolaji Abdullahi, stated, “Why is APC chairman making a chairman so helpless? He knows they have failed, that’s why they are playing the blame game. The APC cannot be both the ruling party and opposition.
“If he knew that most of the governors have been reckless and stole from their people, why has his party been welcoming them with open arms?
