By Mo Isa
With the slumbering economy and suffering lurking in every corner of Nigeria, Salihu Lukman, former Vice Chairman of the All Progressives Congress, North-West, has asserted that the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC may not win the election in 2027.
Lukman stated this on Wednesday during a media briefing in Abuja ahead of the public presentation of his new book, warning APC leaders that Nigerians may be forced to kick the party out of power in 2027 if the hardship persists.
He also described his resignation from the APC National Working Committee, NWC as a painful decision while dismissing insinuations that he was forced out of the party before the former Kano State governor, Abdullahi Ganduje, took over as APC National Chairman in August.
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“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 truth.
“My deduction so far, without any reservation, is that we have not made much progress. We need to 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 as an aspirant. If we didn’t have somebody with his weight, I’m not sure we would succeed in repelling the attempt to impose a candidate.
“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.”
CONVERSEER reports that Lukman’s book titled, “APC and transition politics,” will be launched on 19 December 2023 in Abuja.