Senator Adams Oshiomhole, who represents Edo North Senatorial District, has reacted to the appointment of Professor Nentawe Yilwatda as the new National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), stating that people should not be judged solely by their appearance.
Speaking on Arise News Friday night, the former APC National Chairman said it’s too early to assess Yilwatda’s leadership capacity but stressed the importance of giving him a fair opportunity.
“It’s too early to say. Too early to say. You can’t know anyone. But you give him the opportunity. Looks can be quite deceiving,” Oshiomhole said.
Despite being described as calm and easygoing, Yilwatda was officially selected on Wednesday to lead the APC—a decision Oshiomhole believes breaks a long-standing but unwritten tradition within the party.
“Unwittingly, APC was beginning to establish as though it’s a tradition that you must first be a governor and out of office as a governor before you become chairman of APC,” he noted.
Oshiomhole recalled that the APC’s founding chairman, Chief Bisi Akande, was a former governor of Osun State, and since then, the position had mostly been held by former governors.
However, with Yilwatda’s emergence, he said the party has sent a strong message:
“It was important, even for the optics, to reassure party members that there is no position that is reserved. You don’t have to be a former governor. I think that point has been very well made by the choice of Yilwatda.”Yilwatda, a former Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, now oversees a party with control in over 20 states and a majority in the National Assembly.
Speaking to Channels Television earlier in the week, he stated his commitment to adopting the leadership style of President Bola Tinubu, emphasizing inclusiveness and strategy in managing party affairs.
