The All Progressives Congress (APC) has announced plans to grow its nationwide membership beyond 20 million, as its ongoing electronic registration drive approaches the 12-million mark.

The party’s National Chairman, Professor Nentawe Goshwe Yilwatda, made this known on Sunday during an interview on TVC, responding to concerns that the APC’s earlier projection of 12.5 million members was overly ambitious.

Yilwatda disclosed that the party has already surpassed 11 million registered members and is steadily closing in on 12 million, stressing that the registration exercise remains open-ended.

“We are targeting over 20 million members. Already, we have crossed 11 million and are approaching 12 million. We are not closing our registration,” he said.

He explained that while the party intends to print its membership register to meet timelines ahead of its convention and submission to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), the registration process itself is continuous.

“Membership registration is a continuous process,” Yilwatda stated. “What we are doing is to print our register so we can meet the deadline to update and submit it to INEC before our convention.”

The APC chairman noted that the e-registration system captures comprehensive personal data of members, including National Identity Numbers (NIN), addresses, wards, polling units, and local government areas, a measure he said enhances transparency and eliminates claims of non-Nigerians being registered.

“Today, we have the identity numbers of all our members,” he said. “Nobody can claim that we brought people from Niger, Chad, or anywhere else. Every member is Nigerian, identified, and linked to a specific polling unit and ward.”

According to him, the digital database will significantly boost grassroots mobilisation, campaign planning, internal research, and electoral strategy, adding that in some wards, elections could be won using only verified party members.

“If you are contesting in a ward, we can identify our members there, provide their contacts and addresses, and allow you to reach them directly,” Yilwatda explained. “In some places, you can win an election with just our members. That is our goal.”

He added that the digital register would also enable the party to conduct policy research and political analysis across wards, local governments, states, and geopolitical zones without the need for extensive physical fieldwork.