Salihu Moh. Lukman, a former Director General of the Progressive Governors’ Forum (PGF) and ex-National Vice Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the Northwest, has defected from the party.
News About Nigeria reports that he stated that the APC has lost its political relevance and can no longer secure victories in elections without resorting to rigging.
In a statement issued Wednesday in Kaduna titled ‘APC and the Future of Nigerian Democracy: Letter to Selected APC Leaders’, Lukman said he found it extremely necessary to write to a few selected leaders of the party and try to clarify his position regarding the situation both in the party and in the country.
“First, it is a shared concern of most leaders of the party that the situation in the country has deteriorated in the last one year since the assumption of office of President Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
“Given the reality that the party structures have been demobilised and the government is implementing policies that have eroded the value of the incomes of citizens, conditions of living are rapidly getting worse by the day. With that, both the APC and the governments it controls are getting more and more unpopular.
“It doesn’t require any investigation; at this rate, there is no way we can win an election except through rigging. The popular saying in the country now is that President Tinubu is a one-term president. The hard truth is that the country will be lucky to get to 2027 without witnessing upheavals,” he stated.
Lukman said, given the experiences of Nigerians with both former President Muhammadu Buhari and now President Tinubu, Nigerians must learn the appropriate lessons by ensuring that, moving forward, they must prioritise the development of a strong party organisation, which can subordinate the President and all elected representatives under the control of the organs of the party.
“Given all this, it is possible to remain in APC if, at all, President Tinubu will allow internal reform in the party to return it to its founding vision, which, as it is, is very remote. But my reality now in the party is that my membership has been rendered useless and there is no need for me to continue to impose myself.
“I have therefore gone back to the trenches and will try to work with all committed Nigerians who agree and subscribe to the goal of actively campaigning for the survival and development of democracy in Nigeria.
“We must grow our democracy to the point whereby elected representatives at all levels are accountable to the party and it is possible for Nigerians represented by various interests to develop strong relationships with political parties and elected governments based on which policies of governments can be made to reflect the wider interests of Nigerians.
“Although I pray that God Almighty will touch the heart of President Tinubu to make him recover whatever is left of his democratic credentials, I have lost hope that after one year of planless leadership, not much can be achieved during his tenure.
“It, therefore, behoves all patriots, Democrats, and progressives in the country to take up the responsibility of organising and mobilising Nigerians towards rescuing Nigerian democracy. As it is, the APC and the government of President Tinubu have been lost to the whirlwind.
“Just like we campaigned against military rule and the PDP, we must rise to the task of campaigning against the President Asiwaju whirlwind,” he stated.
Lukman lamented that all organs of the APC have been frozen and there is hardly any functional channel of internal communication.
