A former national vice chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC) (North-West), Salihu Lukman has said Nigerians, driven by frustration over the state of the country, could support any opposition candidate to defeat the ruling APC which has hardly any prospect of changing existing reality.
According to him, governments at both national and state levels have been unable to meet the expectations of party members and Nigerians which poses a danger for the party’s ability to win elections.
Lukman, in a statement, expressed concern that elected leaders, including President Bola Tinubu are in denial of this danger or believe that they can surmount it without resolving the problem of imposition of candidates.
He noted that nine years down the line, the culture of imposition of candidates is gradually taking over the APC while the organs of the party as provided in its Constitution are not allowed to function.
The former director general of Progressive Governors Forum said the implication of this is that APC has become weak in terms of influencing initiatives of elected representatives.
Lukman maintained that over time, within a space of less than nine years, APC governments at both federal and state levels have been alienated from APC members and leaders.
To the extent of such alienation, he said elected representatives are behaving more like emperors, which increasingly is producing a leadership crisis across all the states, especially in states controlled by the APC.
“Being the ruling party, what affects the APC seems to be infecting all other parties in the country, in varying proportion. Problems of not allowing organs of the party to function have spread to the PDP. Leadership crisis is also consuming the Labour Party. The problems may be worse in other parties.
“Without doubt, Nigeria is faced with deeper crisis of accountability. Elected leaders in Nigeria are behaving more like emperors. Culture of debate and contestation associated with democracy are being destroyed. Sycophancy has taken over politics,” Lukman said.
Lukman also expressed concern that political realities under the APC since 2015 are being equated to situations under PDP between 1999 and 2015, suggestive of a wide gap between what was promised and what is being delivered.
The APC chieftain called for deliberate reforms in the ruling party to give it stronger electoral advantages ahead of the 2027 general elections.
“I strongly believe that reforming the APC and making all organs of the party functional, resolving challenges of party funding, operating an Annual National Budget of more N100 billion and benchmarking conditions of service of party leaders at all levels with public service conditions, combined, would deepen Nigerian democracy, return APC to its founding vision of emerging as a progressive party.
“Achieving this when the next general election is more than three years away, would confer stronger electoral advantages to the APC. It is my wish that APC leaders, especially President Asiwaju Tinubu will consider these proposals in responding to challenges facing the APC,” he added.
