Prof. Nentawe Goshwe Yilwatda has emerged as the new National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), succeeding Dr. Abdullahi Umar Ganduje, the immediate past governor of Kano State, who resigned from the position citing health concerns.
Yilwatda, a former APC governorship candidate in Plateau State, is widely regarded as a technocrat with deep roots in engineering, governance reform, and party politics.
Born on August 8, 1968, in Dungung, Kanke Local Government Area of Plateau State, he is the son of the late Reverend and Mrs. Toma Yilwatda. He studied Electrical/Electronic Engineering at the Federal University of Agriculture, Makurdi, graduating in 1992. He later earned a Master’s degree from Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University, Bauchi, and a PhD in Digital Systems Engineering from the University of Nigeria, Nsukka.
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Yilwatda has also undergone international training in e-governance at the United Nations University in Macau, China.
During the 2023 general elections, he served as the Plateau State Coordinator for the Tinubu/Shettima Presidential Campaign and contested the governorship election under the APC. Although he lost to the PDP, he challenged the outcome in court and later accepted the Supreme Court’s verdict.
Within the APC, Yilwatda maintains a strong alliance with former Plateau State Governor and now Senator, Simon Lalong. He was initially tipped for a ministerial appointment and later nominated as Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation before emerging as the party’s substantive national chairman.
His appointment is viewed by political observers as a strategic move by the party to blend technocratic expertise with political leadership as the APC charts its course under President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s administration.
