By Joy Odor Reportcircle News
Nigeria’s ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) has flipped the switch on what party leaders describe as a decisive organisational reset, plunging headlong into data-driven politics with a nationwide digital membership registration that has already crossed two million verified members in just one week.
The surge was revealed after a high-stakes strategy session in Abuja, where the party’s National Working Committee (NWC) met with State Coordinators overseeing the registration exercise.
The meeting, insiders say, was less of a courtesy briefing and more of a performance review with consequences.
Presided over by the National Chairman, Professor Nentawe Yilwatda, alongside the National Secretary, Senator Ajibola Basiru, and other senior NWC members, the closed-door engagement brought together coordinators from across the federation.
Also present were heavyweights of the party’s State leadership, including the Imo State APC Chairman and Chairman of the APC State Chairmen Forum, Pastor Cornelius Odogba, and the Forum’s Secretary, the Taraba State APC Chairman, a line-up that underlined the political gravity of the moment.
By the time the meeting ended, one message had been firmly delivered: January’s deadline is non-negotiable, and underperformance will not be indulged.
Briefing journalists after the meeting, Mr. Ikechukwu Ume, APC Imo State Secretary and State Coordinator of the registration exercise, disclosed that the directive driving the process came straight from the party’s National Executive Council (NEC), the second-highest organ of the APC at its December meeting.
“The NEC has mandated that all APC members must be digitally registered before the end of January 2026,” Ume said. “This exercise must be done correctly and timeously.”
According to both Ume and the National Secretary, the NWC now has the authority to replace State Coordinators found wanting as it conducts state-by-state performance assessments.
Beyond the internal politics, party leaders framed the exercise as an institutional overhaul.
“Data is central to effective management and operational efficiency,” Senator Basiru explained. “This is even more critical for a political party that depends on mobilisation, organisation and consultation.”
The digital platform captures verified member details, including voter registration numbers, creating what officials describe as a clean, organic and functional membership database, a first at this scale for the party.
Despite several states yet to commence the exercise at full throttle, the early numbers have exceeded internal projections.
“Over two million Nigerians have already been digitally registered and verified,” Ume disclosed.
The party is now projecting an exponential climb.
“With increased momentum across the states, we are optimistic that by our next assessment early next week, the figures could rise to between eight and nine million members,” Senator Basiru said.
The APC leadership has tied the registration drive directly to governance, insisting that a credible, data-backed membership base is essential to mobilising nationwide support for President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda.
“This exercise is foundational,” Ume noted. “It is about building an organic party structure capable of aligning Nigerians behind the President’s reform agenda.”
Governors, state chairmen and grassroots leaders were commended for committing time, resources and logistics to the rollout. Challenges identified in some states, party leaders said, are already being addressed through targeted stakeholder engagements.
But the warning remains implicit and unmistakable.
As January’s deadline looms, APC’s digital membership drive has become more than an administrative task.
It is now a litmus test of discipline, loyalty and capacity across the party’s national structure.
With two million members already in the system and millions more expected within days, the ruling party is wagering that data, not just slogans, will power its next political phase.
And for State Coordinators watching the clock, the message from Abuja is stark: deliver the numbers or make way.
