The immediate past national vice chairman (North) of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), Malam Salihu Lukman, has resigned his membership of the party over alleged bad governance under the President Bola Ahmed Tinubu-led administration.
Lukman, in a letter to selected APC leaders titled “APC and The Future of Nigerian Democracy,” claimed that after one year of “planless leadership” under the President Tinubu-led administration, not much can be achieved during his tenure.
Lukman remarked that it behoves all patriots, democrats, and progressives in the country to take up the responsibility of organising and mobilising Nigerians towards rescuing Nigerian democracy from the hands of the APC-led administration.
Decrying the absence of communication within the top echelon of the APC, he alleged that President Tinubu is inaccessible to many party leaders even as the policies of his government are “clearly anti-people and completely contradictory” to even his campaign document Renewed Hope.
“As it is, APC and the government of President Asiwaju Tinubu have been lost to the whirlwind. Just like we campaigned against military rule and the PDP, we must rise to the task of campaigning against the President Asiwaju whirlwind,” he noted.
“Given the reality that the party structures have been demobilised and the government is implementing policies that have eroded the value of incomes of citizens, conditions of living are rapidly getting worse by the day. With that, both the APC and the governments it controls are getting more and more unpopular.
“It doesn’t require any investigation; at this rate, there is no way we can win an election except through rigging. The popular saying in the country now is that President Asiwaju Tinubu is a one-term President. The hard truth is that the country will be lucky to get to 2027 without witnessing upheavals.
“I am confident that a strong democracy with functional political parties is possible in Nigeria. I am also confident that in our lifetime we can produce governments that are truly capable of making the lives of Nigerians better. I don’t expect party leaders will agree with my decision. I believe that eventually, we will be united with all party leaders and other Nigerians who are committed to developing Nigerian democracy.”
The Kaduna-born politician argued that the way things are, there is a prevailing atmosphere of intolerance to criticism in the government to the extent that even high-ranking members of President Tinubu’s cabinet have limited access to him.
Recalling how he made several unsuccessful attempts to reach President Tinubu, he said it is unfortunate that people who claim to be progressives have failed the litmus test of tolerance for criticism and wise counsel on the need to reform the APC.
He claimed that the APC National Chairman, Dr. Abdullahi Umar Ganduje, was instructed that the money he spent running the North-West Zonal office between September 2022 and July 2023 should not be paid to him over his antagonistic stance on the running of the party.
He further claimed that even the N10 million Ganduje pledged during his book launch on the APC was not paid to him because of his critical position on the President Tinubu-led administration.
“I have survived the last one year on my personal savings, the goodwill of family members, friends, and a few party leaders. I am most grateful and will forever be indebted to them. The good thing is that I have been able to plan my life such that my expenses are very limited,” he added.
“My experience in life, having spent all my adult life without a biological father, is that all that is required to survive personal challenges is to remain positive and relate to everyone with the best of intentions.
“Which is why, notwithstanding the reality of being isolated by President Asiwaju Tinubu and those around him, I still wish him and his government every success.
“It is in our interest as Nigerians that he succeeds. I hope he will overcome the current adventurously unplanned reality he has imposed on the nation.
“So far, there is no plan, and no one can predict what the next action of the President will be.”
