{"id":13930,"date":"2026-11-10T08:30:44","date_gmt":"2026-11-10T08:30:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/globalnigerianews.com\/index.php\/2026\/11\/10\/n10m-reward-to-motivate-fct-councillors-not-vote-buying-apc-chair-defends-wike\/"},"modified":"2026-11-10T08:30:44","modified_gmt":"2026-11-10T08:30:44","slug":"n10m-reward-to-motivate-fct-councillors-not-vote-buying-apc-chair-defends-wike","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/globalnigerianews.com\/index.php\/2026\/11\/10\/n10m-reward-to-motivate-fct-councillors-not-vote-buying-apc-chair-defends-wike\/","title":{"rendered":"N10m reward to motivate FCT councillors, not vote buying \u2014 APC chair defends Wike"},"content":{"rendered":"<div><img width=\"475\" height=\"392\" src=\"https:\/\/globalnigerianews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/11\/N10m-reward-to-motivate-FCT-councillors-not-vote-buying-\u2014-APC-chair-defends-Wike.jpg\" class=\"attachment-large size-large wp-post-image\" alt=\"N10m reward to motivate FCT councillors, not vote buying \u2014 APC chair defends Wike\" decoding=\"async\" fetchpriority=\"high\" srcset=\"https:\/\/globalnigerianews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/11\/N10m-reward-to-motivate-FCT-councillors-not-vote-buying-\u2014-APC-chair-defends-Wike.jpg 475w, https:\/\/cdn.vanguardngr.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/Yilwatda-300x248.png 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 475px) 100vw, 475px\"><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>By Adegboyega Adeleye<\/strong><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress, Nentawe Yilwatda, has defended the N10 million reward promised by the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, to councillors who deliver their wards for President Bola Tinubu and other APC candidates in the 2027 general elections.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Speaking on Channels Television\u2019s Politics Today, on Monday, Yilwatda said the money was intended to motivate councillors and would be paid after the election, once the result had been established.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cHe was speaking to the FCT councillors in the forum, and I\u2019m sure it\u2019s addressing something about 62 or 60-something councillors in the FCT,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Asked whether the offer amounted to voter inducement, Yilwatda rejected the suggestion, arguing that political parties routinely provide funds for mobilisation.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWhich political party doesn\u2019t release money for mobilisation? Which political party? So, tell me one. No, it\u2019s not for votes. The same reward for you to deliver Tinubu in your ward,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Yilwatda compared the offer to rewarding students for academic achievement but maintained that the timing of the payment was significant.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThe money is not given before the election. It doesn\u2019t matter? No, it matters. It matters because if the money is given after the election has been concluded and the winner has been declared and there\u2019s nothing at stake again\u2014if the court has proven and all the legal rules have been followed\u2014that you legally deliver your ward by giving you N10 million,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Asked again whether he considered the offer of vote buying, Yilwatda replied authoritatively: \u201cNever.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Wike made the pledge at a political meeting in Kwali Area Council, promising N10 million to each councillor who delivers their ward for Tinubu and the APC in 2027.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Asked whether the APC would return Godswill Akpabio as Senate President if he wins re-election, Yilwatda said the decision would rest with senators.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cLet\u2019s wait for the election first. I don\u2019t have anybody in mind. The Senate will determine who they want to make the Senate President,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">On reports of electoral violence ahead of the 2027 general elections, Yilwatda said he sympathised with anyone injured and said the APC supported free and fair elections.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cIf anybody is injured by anybody across the country, I\u2019m sure it shouldn\u2019t be by APC supporters. I pity anybody who is being injured, and I sympathise with them. Our party stands for free and fair elections,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>The post <a href=\"https:\/\/www.vanguardngr.com\/2026\/11\/n10m-reward-to-motivate-fct-councillors-not-vote-buying-apc-chair-defends-wike\/\">N10m reward to motivate FCT councillors, not vote buying \u2014 APC chair defends Wike<\/a> appeared first on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.vanguardngr.com\/\">Vanguard News<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>Source: <\/p>\n<div class=\"nSourse\">Vanguard News<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By Adegboyega Adeleye The National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress, Nentawe Yilwatda, has defended the N10 million reward promised by the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike,&hellip; <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":13931,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-13930","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/globalnigerianews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13930","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/globalnigerianews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/globalnigerianews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globalnigerianews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globalnigerianews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13930"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/globalnigerianews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13930\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globalnigerianews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/13931"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/globalnigerianews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13930"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globalnigerianews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13930"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globalnigerianews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13930"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}