Former Director General of the Progressive Governors Forum (PGF), Salihu Lukman, has said it is in the enlightened self-interest of the All Progressives Congress power brokers that it experienced internal reforms under the administration of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
Lukman, who was the former national vice chairman of the North West, noted in a statement, “Why Political Parties in Nigeria Should Be Reformed,” that Tinubu, being a former pro-democracy activist, has the requisite credentials to initiate reforms and drive the process to ultimately save the APC from self-destruction.
Lukman, whose book, “APC and Transition Politics, will soon be unveiled, denied the insinuation of animosity towards Tinubu’s administration and the national chairman of the party, Abdullahi Umar Ganduje.
“Part of the motivation is also to clarify many of the allegations against me that I am against the leadership of President Asiwaju Tinubu.
I must say very clearly that I disagreed with President Asiwaju Tinubu’s decision to nominate Dr Ganduje as the National Chairman of APC, but I respect and accept the fact that Dr Ganduje is today the National Chairman.
“I also have strong concerns about the direction taken by the Federal Government under the leadership of President Asiwaju. Under the leadership of Asiwaju Tinubu, we have sadly produced an irritating political reality whereby the North-Central region is marginalised.
I fear that at the rate we are going, with all the low ratings of former President Buhari, if care is not taken, he may turn out to be more progressive.”
The former member of the APC National Working Committee maintained that he would not abandon his self-imposed responsibility to critique the Tinubu administration and the management of the party’s national secretariat.
He said, “We are not, and we will never abandon the campaign for democracy in Nigeria. Whatever is responsible for the current orientation can be surmounted and should be conquered. We will not degrade ourselves to become antagonists of our party and President Asiwaju Tinubu.
“We are confident that our party is blessed with leaders who are capable of initiating processes of reform to return our party to its founding vision of becoming a progressive party.
We are also confident that President Asiwaju Tinubu is a committed Democrat and truly a progressive politician. We were never wrong in our estimation that out of all the 23 leaders who aspired to become our presidential candidates for the 2023 general elections, he was the best qualified.
“Therefore, as party members and leaders, we must continue to engage him to live up to all the promises we have made to Nigerians since 2015.
We must work hard and make all the necessary sacrifices to ensure that both President Asiwaju Tinubu and the APC succeed in moving Nigerian democracy forward. Moving Nigerian democracy forward is about promoting political competition in the country.
“A situation whereby a few people have taken over our party, APC, and are doing everything possible to block internal competition within the party is unacceptable and should not be allowed to continue. This was, and still is, the problem of the PDP. It was one of the fundamental issues the APC promised to change in 2015, which won the support of Nigerians.
“As Nigerian citizens committed to democracy, we must go back to the drawing board and begin the campaign to reform our political parties in Nigeria to guarantee internal political competition.
It is only when internal political competition is achieved within political parties that wider national competition can be achieved.
Once we fail to guarantee internal competition within parties, the current reality of excessive manipulation, through rigging of elections, vote buying, and other criminality, will continue.”
YOU SHOULD NOT MISS THESE HEADLINES FROM NIGERIAN TRIBUNE
COP28 delegates: Invest in production, not frivolities, Peter Obi knocks Tinubu
Peter Obi, the presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP) in the 2023 general elections has reacted to the long list of delegates that travelled with…
I studied for seven hours daily for four years — ACU best graduating student
To attain great academic success, the best-graduating student at Ajayi Crowther University for the 2022–2023 academic session, Susanna Akinteye, has…
CBN will freeze your accounts if you don’t link your BVN-NIN
The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has said that all accounts without the Bank Verification Number (BVN) and…
How housewives are coping with exorbitant cost of pepper
YEJIDE GBENGA-OGUNDARE reports that in addition to significant increase in cost of food items, many Nigerian homes that…
Service chiefs on national security
SPEAKING at the Green Chamber when he led service chiefs to address parliamentarians on pertinent security issues last week, the Chief of…
Gusau outlines 2030 vision for Nigeria football development
President, Nigeria Football Federation (NFF), Ibrahim Musa Gusau, has outlined his plan for…
