A former National Vice Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Dr. Salihu Lukman has said that the lack of seriousness of opposition leaders might make it difficult to change the government of President Bola Tinubu in 2027.
Lukman in a statement issued on Monday lamented that Nigerians are going through very harsh and excruciating conditions, stressing that since the commencement of the fourth republic, it has been a case of progressive degeneration that invariably brought the country to its knees whereby public resources are now practically the private resources of so-called elected leaders.
He pointed out that although it was a shared concern among these leaders that the situation in the country has deteriorated, there is hardly any definitive engagement with the clear objective of mobilising Nigerians to effect a change in 2027.
The former Director General of Progressives Governors Forum was of the opinion that developing alternative political platforms in the country should be about restoring the virtue of selflessness among political leaders.
Against this background, he said opposition leaders must develop an alternative political platform by December 2024 if they are to wrestle power from President Bola Tinubu and the APC.
Lukman added: “It has become necessary to draw the attention of opposition political leaders in the country that the current care-free or unserious disposition could produce the disastrous outcome whereby Nigerians may be unable to change the government of President Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu in 2027.
“The reality is that if by the end of December 2024, no structured engagement has commenced based on strategic initiative to develop the alternative political platform, oriented based on selfless disposition of opposition political leaders, it simply means that any opposition to APC and President Asiwaju Tinubu in 2027 will be based on personal ambitions of individual political leaders.”
Lukman emphasised that opposition political leaders must recognise the urgency requiring strategic initiative to produce the alternative political platform to rescue Nigeria.
He noted that so long as relationships among political leaders in the country are limited to support for personal ambition to emerge as candidates, it signposts a looming danger and prospect of producing a government worse than the current one.
He said If that is the case, the risk of producing a government that was worse than the current one would be high.
