Salihu Lukman, a former national vice chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC) for the North-West region, has raised concerns over the potential for Nigerians to support opposition candidates due to frustration with the current state of the country.
Lukman expressed doubts about the ruling APC’s ability to alter the existing reality, highlighting a failure by governments at both national and state levels to meet the expectations of party members and Nigerians. He warned that this situation poses a significant risk to the party’s electoral success.
In a statement, Lukman voiced apprehension that party leaders, including President Bola Tinubu, are either oblivious to this danger or believe they can overcome it without addressing the problem of candidate imposition. He emphasized a growing culture of candidate imposition within the APC, with the party’s constitutional organs stifled from functioning effectively.
The former director general of the Progressive Governors Forum lamented that APC governments have become increasingly disconnected from party members and leaders over the past nine years. This disconnect, he argued, has led to elected representatives behaving like autocrats, exacerbating leadership crises across APC-controlled states.
Lukman noted that the accountability crisis extends beyond the APC, affecting other parties as well. He highlighted a decline in democratic principles such as debate and contestation, with sycophancy becoming prevalent in politics.
Expressing concern that the APC’s performance since 2015 does not align with its promises, Lukman called for deliberate reforms within the party to bolster its electoral prospects ahead of the 2027 general elections. He proposed measures including functionalizing all party organs, addressing funding challenges, and aligning party leaders’ conditions of service with those of public servants.
Lukman urged APC leaders, particularly President Tinubu, to consider these reforms to address the party’s internal challenges and strengthen its position in future elections.
