Salihu Lukman, a former director general of the Progressives Governors’ Forum, has pleaded with President Bola Tinubu to ensure that the All Progressives Congress (APC), which is in power, has functioning institutions and structures.
This was revealed by Lukman, the APC’s immediate vice chairman, on Inside Sources with Laolu Akande, which aired on Friday.
He stated that the APC ought to be forced to function following the departure of Senators Iyiola Omisore and Abdullahi Adamu from their positions as national secretary and chairman, respectively, in July of last year.
“The main issue, and what I anticipate from President Asiwaju,” he stated, “is making sure that our party’s infrastructure are operational.
“My frustration is that, despite our best efforts to remove Senator Iyiola Omisore and Abdullahi Adamu from the party leadership, the real issue is making sure these structures are in place so that anyone who steps up can work within the party’s constitution.”
Two years after the Adams Oshiomhole-led National Working Committee (NWC) was disbanded, in March 2022, Adamu assumed the position of APC national chairman.
Adamu, who led Nasarawa State as governor from May 1999 to May 2007. Additionally served as the National Assembly representative for the Nasarawa West Senatorial District from May 2011 to April 2022.
A group of northern governors who supported former Lagos State governor Bola Tinubu vehemently opposed Adamu’s nomination of then-Senate President Ahmad Lawan as the party’s consensus candidate in the run-up to the APC presidential primary in June 2022.
After defeating Lawan, Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, former Transportation Minister Rotimi Amaechi, and other influential APC members, Tinubu finally became the party’s nominee. The former governor of Lagos will go on to win the presidential election on February 25, 2023.
Two months following Tinubu’s inauguration as Nigeria’s president, a series of conflicts forced Adamu and Omisore from the ruling party.
Lukman made the following statement regarding the APC’s performance to date: “We had to fight to get Asiwaju to win the ticket.” Now that you have the ticket, things shouldn’t be doing business as normal.
“For example, under former President Buhari, I am a member of the Committee that led the real federalism report, which was produced by Malam Nasir El-Rufai. Honest work was done, including putting draft legislative legislation on the table and finding out what people thought. We didn’t even discuss the viewpoints of leaders; instead, we gave them weight and encouraged them to start thinking about their possibilities.
He explained, “I argued about this in several of my writings,” as to why the report was not put into action. Within the APC, the conservative bloc usually gets its way. They possess the advanced abilities to make sure that what they dislike isn’t done. My dissatisfaction with the APC stems in part from their ubiquitous presence. I anticipated a lot of debates in the APC, and when there aren’t any meetings, there aren’t any debates either. Instead, it’s all about plotting to get positions and to run for office even in the absence of elections. That is not how we advance in a democracy.
Election manipulation incidents have significantly decreased from 2015, according to Lukman, but “where there are gaps is our democracy’s capacity to produce leaders that are accountable to citizens.” Accountability in the sense of representing the interests of the people and responding to their demands. This has a significant void in it.
“In my opinion, it also speaks to the way we prioritize the entire framework and institution that should guide governance following elections. The political party is one of those institutions.
“I now advocate more for the national reforms that our political parties need to undergo. I keep bringing up the Uwais Committee report, which called for the unbundling of INEC. The Political Party Regulatory Commission should be one of the structures that result from the unbundling of INEC, as none of our parties—including the APC—are operating at the moment. This is because the National Executive Committee, which is meant to meet quarterly, last convened in August.
The National Advisory Council, which functions similarly to the Board of Trustees, has not met since 2013. Not even one National Advisory Council meeting. The National Caucus can convene even once a week; that ought to be the advisory structure, but it doesn’t.
“We have established organizations like the women’s and youth wings, which should have their own constitutions, but as of right now, nothing has been done,” he stated.
