Ayodeji Ake
A pro-Tinubu support group within the All Progressives Congress, Renewed Hope Advocates of Nigeria (RHAN), has warned the National Chairman of the party, Professor Yilwatda Nentawe, not to allow his personal hatred for Governor Caleb Mutfwang of Plateau State to endanger President Bola Tinubu’s 2027 re-election prospects.
The group gave the warning in a statement signed by its National Coordinator, Comrade Prince Miaphen, expressing “deep concern” that while the President and the APC national leadership are busy reaching out to opposition governors across Nigeria, Professor Nentawe has instead been working to frustrate Governor Mutfwang’s planned defection to the APC.
Miaphen recalled that at a stakeholders’ meeting in Jos last Friday, chaired by Professor Nentawe himself, a motion was allegedly forced through to bar Governor Mutfwang from joining the APC, a move RHAN described as “reckless, self-serving, and politically suicidal.”
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“At a stakeholders’ meeting recently held in Jos — presided over by the National Chairman himself — a motion was not only moved but unanimously adopted to bar the incumbent Governor of Plateau State, His Excellency Barr. Caleb Mutfwang, from joining the APC,” Miaphen wrote. “The same meeting that enthusiastically endorsed President Tinubu’s second term bid paradoxically decided to block a sitting governor who could have been one of his strongest electoral assets in the North Central region.”
According to him, the decision “exposes the growing disconnect between the Plateau APC leadership and the President’s national vision,” warning that “any political strategy that alienates Plateau’s sitting governor is both short-sighted and dangerous to the party’s national interest.”
Miaphen noted that under President Tinubu, Nigeria has witnessed unprecedented political inclusivity, citing the alignment of governors from Cross River, Ebonyi, Zamfara, and Enugu States as examples of the President’s bridge-building strategy.
“Mr. President, your administration’s success story is built upon inclusion and political bridge-building. How can the same APC that celebrates the defection of governors elsewhere suddenly turn hostile to one in Plateau — a state with over 2.5 million registered voters, crucial to the political arithmetic of 2027?” Miaphen asked.
He described Professor Nentawe’s actions as a “dangerous contradiction” that calls into question his political maturity and loyalty to the President’s Renewed Hope Agenda.
“Rather than convening meetings to block Governor Mutfwang, Professor Nentawe should be hosting strategic engagement sessions to woo him and his supporters. What sense does it make that the National Chairman’s own governor is still in the opposition?” he queried.
RHAN also reminded the President of the bitter lessons of 2023, when the APC lost Plateau despite having former Governor Simon Lalong as the Director-General of Tinubu’s campaign.
“If a sitting governor’s support could not guarantee victory in 2023, how much worse would it be when the National Chairman himself alienates the current governor? Personality politics and disunity on the Plateau can once again ruin our national effort,” Miaphen warned.
He alleged that Professor Nentawe may be preserving the APC’s 2027 governorship ticket for himself, and that his hostility towards Governor Mutfwang is “rooted in personal bitterness from his 2023 loss.”
“It is widely whispered on the Plateau that Professor Nentawe still nurses personal bitterness over his 2023 defeat and is quietly positioning himself for another attempt in 2027. If true, that would explain his hostility to Governor Mutfwang and his attempt to sabotage the President’s re-election,” he said.
Concluding, the RHAN coordinator urged President Tinubu to call Nentawe and the Plateau APC caucus to order, insisting that the party’s unity and 2027 prospects depend on openness and reconciliation.
“Mr. President, you are a master strategist — a bridge builder who understands that no region should be politically isolated. It is in that spirit that we urge you to intervene immediately. Plateau is too strategic to be lost to personal vendetta,” Miaphen stated.
He added that the doors of the APC must remain open to all well-meaning Plateau citizens, including Governor Mutfwang, “if the goal truly is to secure and strengthen President Tinubu’s 2027 re-election.”
