Dr. Salihu Lukman, a prominent member of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), stated that President Bola Tinubu was failing in his role as the nation’s leader, pointing out that almost all Nigerian leaders—with perhaps very few exceptions—are self-centered.
Lukman, the National Vice Chairman (Northwest) of the APC, recently resigned from his post. He claimed the President was following the same path of failure as the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), which resulted in the “wasted years.”
The Progressives Governors’ Forum (PGF), whose former director general delivered the message in an open letter on Wednesday, claims that they have limited their interactions with President Tinubu to obtaining appointments to his government. However, he also noted that Tinubu passed the first test by zoning the leadership positions of the 10th National Assembly and, consequently, the current administration.
“Already, with the way former President Buhari had managed the country for eight years, in the same political orientation PDP ran the country for sixteen years, President Tinubu is justifiably continuing that path,” Lukman said in his letter titled “Burden of Leadership.”
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“Our leaders who led the merger negotiation to produce APC in 2013, owe it to Nigerians, to call President Tinubu to order and get him to recover whatever is left of his democratic and progressive credentials.
“APC leaders and President Tinubu must resist the temptation of toeing the path of self-destruction by continuing to operate as a closed government.
“Achieving that will require readiness on the part of all APC leaders to make all the sacrifices to regain their respect back, based on which they emerged as leaders and not bosses.
“Although, being a self-acclaimed Awoist and progressive, not coming from a military background like former President Buhari, the expectation of many is that he will at least, be more democratic.
“This should connote more consultations, based on which perhaps, the structures of the APC as a political party would be made more functional.”
“Confronted with a hostile party leadership under Senator Abdullahi Adamu who was decidedly anti-zoning, to be fair to President Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, he was able to handle the situation to the best of his ability, based on which he produced a balanced leadership for the 10th National Assembly.
“Unfortunately, most of our APC leaders from the North, for whatever reasons, were speculated to have worked at variance with the initiatives of President Tinubu to produce a balanced leadership.
“That could have been partly, responsible for the complete lack of attempt to forge a united front with President Tinubu and party leaders from the North, to ensure that the successor to Senator Adamu as APC National Chairman is produced through consultations.”
Dr. Lukman chastised political office holders in the Tinubu government, charging them with hoarding funds in anticipation of the general election in 2027. He pointed to threats of insurrection against the nation’s leadership and stated that the least would be for the APC and President Tinubu to lose elections in 2027.
“Our leaders holding political office are busy amassing financial resources, legally or illegally, for future elections,” he said.
“We must caution our leaders, as things are, they are on the verge of self-destruction. It is very clear that President Tinubu’s respect for political leaders in the country is weak, largely because of the failure to act as leaders.
“Virtually, all APC leaders are behaving more like bosses. Accordingly, this is now a source of threat with the potential danger of leaders completely losing relevance and unable to command the respect of citizens.”
“Given all these, any conclusion about APC shortchanging Nigerians can hardly be dismissed.
Ensuring that all of the party’s organs are permitted to work in accordance with the party’s constitution is essential to turning the APC into a functional party. Anything less than that will only help to undermine Nigeria’s democracy, he continued.
