Former National Vice Chairman, North-West of the All Progressives Congress (APC) Salihu Lukman, who is a key leader in the coalition of political leaders, plotting the defeat of President Bola Tinubu at the 2027 general election on Monday said negotiations are ongoing and nothing has been finalised about the movement.
LEADERSHIP recalls that while responding to a question during the press conference on the declaration of State of Emergency in Rivers State last Thursday, former Vice President Atiku Abubakar confirmed the ongoing formation of a coalition ahead of 2027 general election.
Lukman said while that has generated wide interests and national debates with varied interpretations, the coalition is a work in progress and once concluded, formal announcement will be made with all the details, regarding composition of membership, programme of action and framework for contesting the 2027 elections.
He said consultations were at advanced stages involving basically reaching out to prospective members of the coalition, mapping out issues for agreements among those concerned.
Lukmon, a chief political strategist said the issues of zoning and a political party to be adopted were not decided at the moment.
“At this stage of negotiations, the main focus is around getting leaders to agree to work together and substantially, there is strong recognition that prospective members should set aside personal ambitions to contest the 2027 elections. The second issue being negotiated is the political party that will be the platform for the 2027 electoral contest.
“These two issues are carefully being negotiated. While acknowledging that with respect to the requirement for members to set aside personal ambitions, there are strong interests being expressed around issues of zoning by individual leaders, these issues are yet to be formally discussed at any consultation meeting.
“The speculation therefore by some media analysts about disagreements stalemating the coalition negotiation is not true. The consensus among leaders is that the final decision about processes of candidates’ selection can only be handled and determined when there is agreement regarding the political party on whose platform the coalition will field candidates.
“The question of negotiating the political party is the most difficult challenge. This is an area that many members of the coalitions have been engaging in different ways for more than a year now,” he said.
Lukman disclosed that many groups, including some members of the coalition have filed applications to register political parties but for reasons best known to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), these applications were being frustrated.
“The only conclusion that can be reached in the circumstance is that INEC has decided that it will not register new parties. To make matters worse, many of the existing registered parties who did not meet the electoral threshold of winning any seat in the last general elections face the threat of deregistration.
“Given this unpleasant reality, members of the coalition opened negotiations with some of the existing parties that have met the electoral threshold. Interestingly, somehow, some of the prospective parties being negotiated are being remotely pushed into crises mode in the same way PDP, Labour Party and NNPP have been entangled with existential problems. It is almost a clear case of destroying the legal basis for any party to qualify to field candidates for 2027 other than the ruling APC.
“This is quite unfortunate coming during the tenure of a party that is envisioned to be progressive. It is even more troubling when it is during the tenure of a leader – President Bola Ahmed Tinubu – who has unarguably been in the vanguard of Nigeria’s democratic struggle.
“The way the Nigerian democratic space is rapidly shrunken can only be imagined under a military government. The determination and resilience of Nigerians is being called to question under the current APC government led by President Tinubu,” he said.
The former Director-General of the Progressives Governors’ Forum assured that leaders of the coalition were committed to providing the needed leadership to rescue Nigerian democracy.
He appealed to all patriotic Nigerians to recognise the urgency of the situation facing the country, adding that they do not have the luxury of waiting until they get to 2027 only to discover that Nigerians have been smouldered into a legal knock out.
Lukman expressed confidence that Nigerian democracy can be rescued but rescuing it is fundamentally about producing a political party that can guarantee and facilitate competitive political contests in the country.
“We recognise and respect all the interests, criticisms and reservations expressed by Nigerians, including those expressed by political leaders who in every respect are potential members of the coalition. Our strong appeal to all political leaders and Nigerians generally is that we must not allow personal interests to undermine our capacity to contribute to Nigeria’s democratic development.
“Difficult as the situation would appear, the negotiation about the political party that will be the platform for the 2027 electoral contest is about to be concluded. All the attempt to push Nigeria into a one-party state will be defeated. Once the negotiation about political party is concluded, Nigerians will be formally informed of all the details, and mobilisation towards 2027 will commence.
“Other secondary negotiations will also commence. Details of procedure and processes of candidates’ selection will be similarly negotiated publicly through activities and meetings of organs of the party. Members of the party will be actively involved. All these critical issues will not be matters left to public speculation or reduced to manipulative antics of political leaders.
“Rescuing Nigerian democracy is beyond simplistic debates of fielding candidates and the associated debates of the quality and where they come from. Everything must be done to produce elected leaders at all levels who will be accountable and, in every respect, and democratic in their dealings with Nigerians.
“Everything must be done to close this chapter of democratic national frustrations, which only produces emperors. This is the goal of the coalition, for which we appeal for the support of all patriotic Nigerians. We don’t envisage it will be an easy task, but we are determine to succeed,” he added.
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