The ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) has claimed it is experiencing a significant influx of young people into its ranks, outnumbering older members as the party prepares for the 2027 general elections.
National Chairman Prof Nentawe Yilwatda made the assertion during an interview on Channels Television’s Politics Today programme yesterday.
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He revealed that recent data from the party’s ongoing e-registration exercise shows a marked shift in its demographic composition.
“We discovered that we have more young people coming to the APC than the elderly,” Prof Yilwatda stated. He emphasised that the party’s growth is driven not by high-profile defections such as those of governors, but by ordinary Nigerians joining on a daily basis.
The chairman cited internal sampling and opinion polls conducted among members, which indicate that approximately 49–50 per cent of those expressing interest in the APC platform are now aged between 18 and 35 years.
This, he said, positions the APC as a distinctly youthful political party.
“Before now, we didn’t have a youthful political party,” he noted. “The data we had previously showed that within those age categories we were only about 21% to 23%.”
The sharp increase, he suggested, reflects a broader appeal among Nigeria’s younger generation.
Prof Yilwatda described the development as a positive transformation for the party, but posed a key question to political observers: “What’s attracting more young people to the APC is what we should ask.”
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The chairman’s comments come at a time when Nigeria’s major political parties are intensifying efforts to mobilise support ahead of the 2027 polls.
With youth unemployment, economic hardship, and demands for better governance remaining prominent issues, the APC appears keen to capitalise on its growing appeal among younger voters.
The party has positioned the surge in youth membership as evidence of renewed confidence in its leadership and policies under President Bola Tinubu’s administration.
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