By Ibrahim Muhammad
The All Progressives Congress (APC) has said it is experiencing a significant increase in the number of young people joining the party, surpassing the rate of enrolment among older Nigerians.
The National Chairman of the party, Prof. Nentawe Yilwatda, disclosed this on Tuesday during an interview on Politics Today, a programme aired on Channels Television.
According to Yilwatda, findings from the party’s ongoing electronic registration exercise indicate a major shift in the party’s demographic composition, with youths now accounting for nearly half of its membership.
“We have discovered that more young people are joining the APC than the elderly,” he said. “When we talk about people moving to the APC, we are not referring to governors or political elites, but ordinary Nigerians who are joining the party on a daily basis.”
He explained that data gathered from sampling and opinion polls conducted during the e-registration process showed that about 49 per cent of those interested in the APC platform are between the ages of 18 and 35.
“This means that about half of our members are young people, making the APC a youthful political party,” Yilwatda noted.
He added that this marks a sharp departure from previous trends, when youths constituted only about 21 to 23 per cent of the party’s membership.
“Before now, we did not have a youthful political party.
The important question now is: what is attracting more young people to the APC?” he said.
The APC is expected to intensify its youth-focused engagement ahead of the 2027 general elections.
