The former Director General of the Progressives Governors Forum (PGF) and chieftain of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), Salihu Moh Lukman, has called on President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and the party to prevail on the Deputy Senate President Barau Jibrin to resign his position for a North-central Senator so as to address the issue of marginalisation in the party.
Lukman also said that five months into the tenure of President Asiwaju Tinubu, most APC leaders are as unclear about the direction of the government as ordinary Nigerians.
He, however, warned against culture of arbitrariness, saying if such is entrenched it can lead to collapse of APC and become PDP 2.0.
In a statement released to newsmen Wednesday in Abuja, Lukman said APC leaders must wake up and actively support President Asiwaju Tinubu to succeed.
In the statement titled ‘APC: The Inconvenient Reality’, Lukman said currently, the only distinction between APC and PDP is that there is strong internal contestation in APC.
“With the constitutional structures of the APC immobilised, Party leaders and members are left in the dark. In addition, will the North-Central continue to be marginalised throughout the tenure of President Asiwaju Tinubu? Why wouldn’t, for instance, Sen. Jibrin Barau, who is from Kano State where Dr. Ganduje come from, be asked to make the sacrifice by relinquishing his position as Deputy Senate President, in favour of a Senator from North-Central? Ideally, these are issues that could be debated internally if structures of the APC are allowed to operate. But because structures have been frozen with Dr. Ganduje conducting the affairs of the party based on business-as-usual practice, even when recommendations are made, they are simply ignored.
“Success in this case is about restoring constitutional order and returning the APC to its founding vision of becoming a progressive party. It is simply unacceptable that APC will continue to exist as a party that is in contempt of its own rules. It is also unacceptable that President Asiwaju Tinubu will inspire us to fight against the culture of imposition, only for him to initiate actions that risk compromising him as a leader who tolerate, if not promote imposition within the APC.
“As loyal members and leaders of the APC, we need to demonstrate both competence and capacity to reproduce best practice initiatives of our leaders. Constitutional order cannot be restored in APC if members and leaders failed to wake up to the responsibility of contesting decisions that are wrong, taken by either President Asiwaju Tinubu or Dr. Ganduje.
“Once APC leaders and members become tolerant of every decision of President Asiwaju Tinubu and Dr. Ganduje, culture of arbitrariness will be so entrenched such that APC will collapse and become PDP 2.0.
“As it is today, the only distinction between APC and PDP is that there is strong internal contestation in APC. At least, up to the end of the tenure of former President Buhari, it was possible to contest decisions of all party leaders, including the decisions of former President Buhari as the leader of the party between May 2015 and May 2023.
“With the way, party leaders and members seemed to be pushed into accepting decisions of President Asiwaju Tinubu with hardly any resistance even when incidences of unfairness against members and sections of the country are obvious, portent both personal risk for President Asiwaju Tinubu as well as obvious political consequences for the APC as a political party.
“It portends personal risk for President Asiwaju Tinubu because if not moderated he may overreach himself and end up producing the circumstances that would lead to his defeat in 2027. Political consequences for the APC largely because once we are out of power, all the privileges associated with being a ruling party will be lost.”
According to Lukman, Nigerians invested so much confidence in APC, on account of which they have voted for the party and its candidates since 2015. APC members and leaders have made all the sacrifices required to attract the confidence of Nigerians.
“Once we fail to renew the hope of APC members, the hope of Nigerians can only be imagined. Therefore, it must be unequivocally stated that getting President Asiwaju Tinubu to succeed is not about repeating the rhetoric of renewed hope. It is about being honestly object and selfless to be ready to contest every wrong decision or initiative taken by both President Asiwaju Tinubu, Dr. Ganduje and all APC leaders. As proudly loyal members of APC, we must not allow President Asiwaju Tinubu to collapse into becoming a typical Nigerian political leader whose only mission is to win election.
“It will be a big political tragedy and disservice to Nigerians if APC is allowed to be destroyed by condoning undemocratic practices of imposition and unconstitutional conduct of running affairs of the APC without allowing the structures of the party to be functional as provided in the APC constitution. Democracy is about rule of law. Any party that is in contempt with its own rules cannot produce accountable, representative, and responsible leaders. For APC and President Asiwaju Tinubu to turn a new positive democratic leaf, restoring constitutional order and returning APC to its founding vision of being a progressive party is non-negotiable!”
