A former National Vice Chairman North-west of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Dr. Salihu Lukman has warned that the ruling party risks rebellion considering the hardship in the land caused by the policies of President Bola Tinubu.
Lukman in a statement issued Friday titled, “APC and Question of Liability, Open Letter to APC Leaders,” said the ruling party was becoming unpopular.
He said it was important that leaders return to their old mode of acting as visionary politicians and initiate deeply more substantive political reforms in the country to reposition the APC and return it to its founding vision of becoming a progressive political.
Lukman noted: “Given this reality, it is painful to admit that both the APC as a party and the government of President Asiwaju Tinubu are becoming increasingly unpopular with Nigerians.
“No one should be deceived that given the way we are becoming more and more unpopular; we are faced with the risk of rebellion by ordinary Nigerians.”
Lukman said at a personal level, he never expected so much from former President Muhammadu Buhari.
He explained that immediately after the merger which led to the formation of APC, he campaigned internally among party leaders from the North not to allow former President Buhari to emerge as the Presidential candidate of the party.
Lukman said his position at the time, around 2014, was that given all the challenges facing the country, especially insecurity in the North, they needed a President from the North who would be very active in uniting the people and giving clear leadership guidance.
He said: “My honest view was that former President Buhari will not provide such leadership.
“The reality was that former President Buhari was never a team player. All the allegations against him why his military colleagues led by General Ibrahim Babangida overthrew him in August 1985 are there in the public domain.
“Unfortunately, somehow, based purely on the strong public support he had largely coming from ordinary people in Northern parts of the country, former President Buhari could not be dismissed by anyone desirous of defeating the PDP.
As a result, therefore, the whole merger negotiations leading to the emergence of APC was largely driven based on the strategic calculations of taking advantage of his popularity in the North to defeat the PDP. “
“This was successfully achieved in 2015 such that former President Goodluck Jonathan conceded defeat even before the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) declared the results of the elections.
“Certainly, the government of former President Buhari did not measure up to the expectations of party members and Nigerians in general. But we must take responsibility that the truth is that the success or failure of former President Buhari’s government represents the collective success or failure of APC as a party.”
Lukman said unfortunately, as things are, they are also strengthening the hands of President Tinubu to continue the path of failure, saying just like they deluded former Buhari into believing that every decision he took was right, party leaders are today misleading Tinubu to believe that all his decisions are right.
He noted: “Painfully, here we are, under President Asiwaju Tinubu, with a government whose initiatives are weak in addressing what is clearing emerging as existential crisis for citizens. During the short life span of the administration, value of incomes has been eroded and the downward slide is continuing almost in geometric scale.
“Our leaders, including Comrade Oshiomhole want us to believe that the problem is created by the administration of former President Buhari. If that is the case, why were they unable as party leaders to regulate the conduct of former President Buhari and prevent him from failing? Now that President Asiwaju Tinubu is in charge, what is being done to address this challenge and ensure that he does not suffer the fate of his predecessor?”