A former National Vice Chairman North-west of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Dr. Salihu Lukman has lamented that President Bola Tinubu was becoming more insensitive to the plightS of Nigerians.
Lukman in a statement issued Sunday titled, “Heartbreaking Reflections”, lamented that Tinubu’s government lacks direction as conditions of life are crashing daily, adding that it was very difficult to reconcile today’s reality with all the campaign promises made.
He added that in less than 10 months since his assumption of office, prices of everything have jerked up.
The party chieftian said for instance, 50Kg bag of Rice, which used to be about N28,000 in May 2023, is nowaround N70,000; 50Kg bag of Maize, which used to be N16,000 is now more than N60,000; 10 litres of groundnut oil, which used to be N10,200 is now more than N21,000; 10 litres of Palm Oil, which used to be N7,000 is now more than N12,000.
The former Director General of Progressives Governors Forum (PGF) noted that since 2015, APC raised the expectations of Nigerians.
He added that while the ruling party promised to change Nigerian politics, since winning the 2015 elections, they have only succeeded in changing all promises to the disappointment of Nigerians.
Lukman noted: “Although, today, we have an elected government with President Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu as President, it is difficult to predict the direction Nigeria is going.
“Almost every action of the administration of President Asiwaju Tinubu is reduced to political convenience, often with hardly any clear logic other than exercising the power to make decisions, which cannot be substantiated with reference to reasons.
“As a result, conditions of life are crashing daily. Being a loyal member of the APC and supporter of President Tinubu, it is very difficult to reconcile today’s reality with all the campaign promises made.”
The party chieftain said he was devastated by the fact that the performance of Tinubu in the last 10 months betrays all the expectations they had.
He said they never expected that Tinubu would be unmindful of the consequences of his decisions.
Lukman added: “The belief of many of us, and indeed most Nigerians is that President Asiwaju Tinubu is a responsive politician who will not recklessly take any decision without weighing its consequences on the lives of citizens.
“The consequence is that notwithstanding the fact that we are in a democracy, we have produced the sad reality whereby the leadership of President Asiwaju Tinubu is becoming more and more insensitive to the plight of citizens.
“Being human, our expectation is that, if decisions are taken with grave consequences such as withdrawal of subsidy and floating the exchange rate, being the responsive leader he is, it is our expectation he will quickly review and recalibrate such decisions with the overall objective of protecting the welfare of citizens. That is what progressive politics is all about.
“How long are citizens expected to survive under this kind of very harsh suffocating reality? What is really the plan government is working on? As someone who was in the forefront of the struggle for democracy, this certainly wasn’t what we fought for.
“If within a four-year tenure, after 10 months the scorecard is gory tales of existential crises for citizens, then the political value of such a regime is suspect. APC leaders must also wake up from their current power drunkenness and push the administration of President Asiwaju Tinubu to become more responsive and stop behaving like a military administration.”
