A former national vice chairman (North-west) of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), Salisu Lukman, has accused President Bola Tinubu of being complicit in the marginalisation of the North Central from the political leadership of the country.
Lukman, however, said unless the party wants to rig general elections in 2027, steps must be taken to embrace constitutional order in the APC.
In a statement in Abuja, titled “Perils of Bad APC Leadership”, the former director general of the Progressives Governors Forum (PGF) called for the reorganisation of all the leadership of the party from ward to local governments, to states, and national level.
According to Lukman, problems of discretionary decisions, especially with respect to conduct of party primary are potential time bombs, which could further undermine the electoral viability of the APC.
He said the National Working Committee (NWC) continues to usurp the powers of all organs of the party, adding that discretionary decisions by the national chairman has worsened.
“Rebuilding the APC should be about restoring constitutional order in the party. Given the fact that the current members of NWC are in their third year now and have so far appear to be comfortable with running affairs of the party without reference to APC Constitution, the question of their political and administrative competence to manage the APC needs to be reviewed. Beyond changing Dr. Ganduje as the National Chairman, perhaps it is the whole NWC that should be changed.
“The additional reality is that the requirement of rebuilding the APC should push us to reorganise all the leadership of the party from Ward to Local Governments, to States, and National level. Integral to that is the need to inaugurate all structures of the party. For instance, our National Advisory Council should be inaugurated without any delay. Women, Youth and Persons Living with Disabilities Wings should be organised and inaugurated in lines with provisions of Article 12.19, 12.20 and 12.21 of the APC Constitution,” he added.
While warning against potential electoral disaster in 2027, Lukman said: “At this crucial point in the life of APC, the best job for Dr. Ganduje is to send him back to Kano State to facilitate reconciliation of all political leaders in the state and reorganise the party.
“Being a party envisioned to be progressive, we must appeal to all our leaders at national level, especially President Asiwaju Tinubu to take every step needed to bring back North Central to the mainstream political leadership of the country by taking back the position of APC National Chairman to North Central.
“Based on the provision of Article 31.5(i) of the APC constitution dealing with what needed to be done when there is a vacancy, which stipulated that ‘in the case of a National/Zonal Officer, the State Executive Committee shall propose a replacement to the State Congress and Zonal Executive Committee for endorsement.”
