They Have No Phones Or Social Media – Yilwatda Reveals Shock Details About 10m Nigerians

The National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Nentawe Yilwatda, has said more than 10 million vulnerable Nigerians who benefited from the Federal Government’s ₦75,000 conditional cash transfer programme do not have access to mobile phones, television sets or social media.

Yilwatda made the disclosure while speaking with journalists after a three-day retreat of the APC National Executive Council in Maiduguri, Borno State.

According to Bush Radio Academy, the APC chairman said many of the beneficiaries were poor and vulnerable Nigerians who had limited access to technology and were therefore largely absent from online discussions about government policies.

“We have given ₦75,000 to over 10 million Nigerians across the country using the conditional cash transfer under the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Reduction,” Yilwatda said.

He added that many of those who benefited from the programme could not participate in public debates because they lacked the communication devices and platforms commonly used for such discussions.

“Mind you, these people who are poor and vulnerable don’t have telephones to make calls; they are not on social media. They don’t have a television. They cannot come and challenge and discuss as we are doing here, but they are out there,” he said.

Yilwatda linked the cash-transfer intervention to the broader economic measures implemented by the administration of President Bola Tinubu following the removal of the petrol subsidy.

He also cited road construction, student loans and other government programmes as areas where he said resources had been directed.

“We are constructing roads and paying people that are working on the road site, and construction is going across the country,” he said.

The APC chairman also defended the removal of the petrol subsidy, arguing that the policy had increased the ability of state governments to meet salary and pension obligations while providing resources for other government programmes.

He criticised proposals to restore the subsidy, saying such a move could affect ongoing projects and programmes, including infrastructure development and student loans.

Yilwatda’s comments came as the APC reviewed its structures and activities during the three-day NEC retreat in Maiduguri. He said the party assessed its operations from the national level down to states, local governments, wards and polling units.

He said the party also resolved to strengthen reconciliation efforts in areas where disagreements exist among its members as it prepares for the 2027 general elections.

The APC chairman further said the party’s National Executive Council expressed confidence in President Bola Tinubu, Vice President Kashim Shettima and other candidates who emerged from the party’s primaries for the 2027 elections.