A former national Vice Chairman, Northwest, of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), Dr. Salihu Lukman has said that the two former national chairman of the party, Chief Bisi Akande and Adams Oshiomhole, have said that there was a need for the party to return to its founding vision.
He said they made their views known while endorsing his new book titled; ”APC and Transition Politics”.
Lukman in a statement issued Thursday said Oshiomhole was emphatic that progressive leaders within the APC must encourage disagreements as a basis for nurturing the growth and development of both the party and Nigeria’s democracy.
TheHintsNews reports that the National Chairman of the party, Dr. Abdullahi Ganduje, had recently endorsed the book.
The APC chieftain said both leaders acknowledged the leadership role of President Asiwaju Bola Tinubu in resisting attempts by some conservative leaders within the party to impose a consensus Presidential candidate for the 2023 elections.
He said notably, they both recalled how many leaders of the APC had to rise against a determined effort by fellow party leaders to undermine the APC’s electoral victory during the 2023 elections.
Lukman said: “Two former National Chairmen of APC, Chief Bisi Akande and Comrade Adams Oshiomhole. First met Chief Akande on September 18 and on Wednesday, September 28 met Comrade Oshiomhole.
“In both the two meetings, we discussed recent developments in APC, including the initiative to produce the publication, APC and Transition Politics. Both the two leaders welcome the initiative and expressed concern about recent experiences which erode the democratic space within the party.”
Lukman stressed that while commending the initiative to document these experiences, “the two leaders were unanimous that returning APC to its founding vision of becoming a progressive party will require consistent struggle against conservative elements both within the party and outside.”
“It is not going to be an easy battle and would require strong commitment and capacity to stubbornly continue to campaign for restoration of democratic values within the APC.”
Lukman stressed that Oshiomhole recalled some of the disagreement they had when he was the Chairman of the party and how his ability to express his disagreement with Oshiomhole’s positions had defined their relationship since their time in the National Union of Textiles from the early 1990s.
He described the meeting with the two party leaders as a rare privilege, inspiring, reassuring and challenging listening to their perspectives about development in APC and what needs to be done to return the APC to its founding vision.
The former Director General for Progressives Governors Forum said he hopes to provoke deeper internal debate within the APC about developing the party to achieve its founding vision.
“The engagement will continue. APC and Transition Politics will be produced and hopefully it will be used to facilitate deeper internal debate within the APC and the future of Nigerian democracy,” he said.