From Romanus Ugwu, Abuja
Former national vice chairman, North West of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Salihu Moh Lukman, has lamented that former President Muhammadu Buhari and the incumbent President Bola Tinubu, have betrayed all the expectations that Nigerians have on the party.
In a statement he issued in Abuja yesterday, the former director general of the APC Progressives Governors ‘Forum said the unserious disposition of the opposition political parties might prevent Nigerians from replacing President Tinubu in 2027.
He warned that if by the end of December this year no structured engagement to develop an alternative political platform has commenced, it means that any opposition to the APC and Tinubu in 2027 would be based on personal ambitions of individual political leaders.
Advocating an alternative political structure to rescue the country, he claimed that progressive degeneration has invariably brought the country to its knees whereby public resources are practically the private resources of the so-called elected leaders.
“How are the opposition political leaders strategizing to re-orient political leaders in the country to address these challenges? Beyond individual press statements, Nigerians legitimately expect political leaders to be meeting and debating on proposals around the country’s challenges.
“Given all the confidence reposed in the APC, Buhari and Tinubu, they betray the expectations of Nigerians in the end. What is political opposition doing to guarantee that when elected they will not jettison their campaign promises?
“This is largely a function of how much commitment the opposition political leaders are willing to demonstrate to build structures of accountability, which will regulate the conduct of all political leaders. For instance, to what extent are the opposition political leaders committed to building structures of political parties?
“If the commitment of the opposition political leaders is only about supporting their personal ambition to become candidates for 2027 elections, it only means that the opposition political leaders are not committed to building the structures of political parties.
“Weak commitment to building the structures of political parties is responsible for the current tragedy whereby Nigeria is a democracy that despises meetings. We are a so-called democratic nation that undermines and destroys all structures that promote negotiations. Because of our inability to negotiate our differences, we have been unable to convert our diversity into resources and assets for nation building.
“Consequently, political opportunism has taken centre stage and political leaders, including opposition politicians, cheaply use our differences to hoodwink citizens,” he argued.
Commenting further, Lukman noted: “The political challenges facing our dear country are very clear. What is required to develop an alternative political platform to rescue the country is also very clear. It is all about whether opposition political leaders in the country are willing and committed to developing stronger relationships based on disposition to be selfless.
“Being selfless is all about the capacity to invest higher levels of trust among all opposition political leaders without limiting it to personal ambition to emerge as candidates. The other related issue is the question of negotiation to produce alternative policy proposals, which opposition political leaders will be committed to implementing if elected.
“No doubt, Nigerians are going through very harsh excruciating conditions. Since the commencement of the Fourth Republic, it has been a case of progressive degeneration, which has invariably brought the country to its knees; public resources are now practically the private resources of the so-called elected leaders.
“Developing alternative political platforms in the country should be about restoring the virtue of selflessness among political leaders in Nigerian politics. Opposition political leaders must recognise the urgency of a strategic initiative to produce the alternative political platform to rescue Nigeria.
“The reality is that if by the end of December 2024, no structured engagement has commenced based on strategic initiative to develop the alternative political platform based on selfless disposition of opposition political leaders, it simply means that any opposition to APC and Tinubu in 2027 will be based on personal ambitions of individual political leaders.
“If that is the case, the risk of producing a government that is worse than the current one will be high. Irrespective of whether the government is led by Atiku Abubakar, Peter Obi, Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso or any of the orphaned leaders of the APC, any successor government that emerges based on personal ambition of political leaders risks being worse,” Lukman wrote in his statement.