Salihu Lukman, a former Vice Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (North-West), admitted on Wednesday that Nigerians are facing additional issues and that the party risks being driven out of government in 2027 if things continue as they are.
Lukman spoke during a press conference in Abuja ahead of the public launch of his new book, ‘APC and Transition Politics,’ which is set to take place on Tuesday, December 19.
The APC chieftain said, “I think we must be honest. At the moment, our democracy is not responsive enough. I’m worried that our leaders have become very comfortable with imagining that they can do anything and get away with it.
“We must appeal to our leaders that things are almost getting out of hand at the rate at which we are going under a party that is envisioned to be progressive.
“We are likely going to start witnessing rebellion and if care is not taken by 2027, we will be kicked out of office, which means taking Nigeria back to where it was in 2015. I think we owe our leader the responsibility or President Asiwaju the responsibility to tell him the honest truth.
“My deduction so far, without any reservation, is that we have not made much progress. We need to really open up and engage our leaders in such a way that they don’t relapse to the old ways of remaining in denial simply because we have won the election.
“It is very clear, and also not a secret, that Nigerians are faced with more challenges. Life is becoming more difficult for them. I keep saying we’re very lucky to have President Asiwaju then as an aspirant. If we didn’t have somebody with his weight, I’m not sure we would succeed to repel the attempt to impose a candidate.”
Lukman his resignation from the party’s National Working Committee as a painful decision.
While describing his decision to quit as a difficult moment in his life, the APC chieftain also dismissed the notion that he was forced out of the system shortly before the emergence of the current national Chairman, Dr Abdullahi Ganduje.
He added, “When I decided to resign from the NWC, it was a very painful thing to do, I must say. It was not as if I enjoyed it. It was a very difficult decision to take. Having taken the decision, I made up my mind that I’m going to find time to document our experiences with the struggle under the transition that brought President Asiwaju Tinubu.
“Of course, I was conscious of the fact that there were some people who were busy arguing at the leadership of the party that I rebelled against the leadership of President Asiwaju. I didn’t rebel against the leadership of President Asiwaju. All I thought as a person is that we owe president the duty of telling him the truth, no matter what. And which was what I did.”
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