APC presidential primary: Yilwatda says irregular vote counting in viral videos did not affect results

Prof. Nentawe Yilwatda, the National Chairman of the All Progressive Congress (APC), has addressed questions about how votes were tallied in the party’s presidential primary.

During the primary, several videos circulated showing collation officers rapidly changing vote counts. In one clip from Abia State, Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives Benjamin Kalu instructed a collation officer to “begin your count,” after which the officer’s tally jumped from 11 to 1,013, then to 2,400, and finally to 7,000.

Yilwatda explained that the data for Abia differ from what was shown in the videos. He noted that the election was conducted at the ward level, and no single ward in Abia State has 7,000 voters.

“That’s the data we have,” Yilwatda said. “If people can mimic counting at any point, they can create drama, but I work with data.”

He added that any staged or exaggerated counting did not affect the overall vote totals. “There are people who make dramas and jokes at centers, but it has nothing to do with the overall figures,” he said.