Hundreds of women from the Plateau State All Progressives Congress (APC) wing staged a major protest on Tuesday against alleged moves by Governor Caleb Mutfwang to defect to their political party.
Mass Protest Against Governor's Defection
The demonstration took place at the Secretariat Bridge Junction in Jos, where APC women gathered in large numbers to voice their strong opposition to the governor's rumored plans to join their party. During the protest, the women also publicly endorsed President Bola Ahmed Tinubu's bid for a second term in office.
Hon. Elizabeth Samson Yerse, who leads the women's group and serves as coordinator of Tinubu Torch Bearers, addressed journalists during the event. She issued a stern warning to individuals within the APC who might be considering recruiting Governor Mutfwang into the party.
Clear Message to Potential Defectors
"It has been on record that the governor said he will never join the APC," Yerse emphasized. "He even went ahead and called the party an evil political party. Let it be clearly understood. We in the All Progressives Congress, especially the women wing, do not want Governor Caleb Mutfwang to join our party."
The women leader delivered a strongly worded statement clarifying their position on the matter. "APC is not a political haven for leaders who have failed to stabilise their own party. APC is not a dumping ground for politicians running from the crises they created," she declared.
Leadership Style Incompatibility Cited
Yerse further explained that Governor Mutfwang's leadership approach conflicts with the APC's values. "Your style of leadership is not compatible with the disciplined, forward-looking direction of our party. You cannot disengage the youth of Plateau State, the leaders of tomorrow, who were employed by the former Governor Senator Simon Bako Lalong, and expect to be accepted into our party."
The women expressed concern about protecting the party's integrity and the efforts of their national chairman, Professor Nentawe Yilwatda. They specifically mentioned not wanting division, indiscipline, or sabotage of the progress made in building the party's reputation.
Former Councillors Join Opposition
In a related development, the immediate past elected Councillors Forum of Nigeria, Plateau State Chapter, has also rejected Mutfwang's potential move to the APC. The forum's chairman, Hon. Dabit John Dashe, accompanied by secretary Hon. Choji Williams Musho, addressed journalists on Monday at the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) Secretariat in Jos.
They responded to a press statement dated November 18, 2025, issued by a group identifying as the Coalition of Concerned Former APC Councillors and Grassroots mobilizers (CFACGM), which had called for the governor to join the APC.
Dashe described the group as "non-existent and faceless" and characterized their statement as "a desperate attempt by the governor and his agents to smuggle him into the party through the back door."
The forum chairman pointed out the contradiction in the governor's position, noting that Mutfwang had previously stated there was no APC in Plateau State and expressed no intention of joining what he called a collapsing party.
The political situation continues to develop as both the APC women's wing and former councillors maintain their firm stance against the governor's potential defection to the ruling party.
