The immediate past National Vice Chairman (North West) of the All progressives Congress (APC), 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 party 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.
He said it behooves 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 alleged absence of communication within the top echelon of the APC, he claimed 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.”
Lukman continued: “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.”
“Given a reality that the party structures have been demobilised and the government is implementing policies that have eroded 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 election except through rigging. The popular saying in the country now is that President 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, party leaders and other Nigerians who are committed to developing Nigerian democracy, will be united.”
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 cabinet have limited access to him.”