A former national vice chairman, North-west of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Salihu Lukman, has called on opposition leaders such as Atiku Abubakar, Peter Obi and Senator Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso to step forward to provide the needed leadership to reform the nation’s democracy and ensure the emergence of a functional political party capable of rescuing Nigeria.
He also said leaders in APC who have been edged out of the party, including former Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, ex-Governors Rotimi Amaechi, Kayode Fayemi, Ibukunle Amosun, Nasir El-Rufai,and Rauf Aregbesola, among others, should join forces with opposition leaders to rescue the country and put Nigeria back on the path of democratic development.
Lukman who said this in a statement entitled ‘#EndBadGovernance Campaign: What Next?’ and issued to journalists in Abuja on Sunday, said, so far, the government of President Bola Tinubu is unable to produce any clear and definitive policy response to the situation in the country.
According to him, the trigger for Nigeria’s current situation was the withdrawal of subsidy on petroleum products and the floating of the exchange rate of the Naira against other international currencies.
The former director general of the Progressives Governors Forum (PGF) noted that for an import-dependent economy, it is predictable that the two policies will produce inflationary pressure.
Lukman lamented that, daily, Nigerians confront the challenges of hunger and threats to daily survival; many citizens die prematurely on account of hunger and preventable diseases.
He said the #EndBadGovernance campaign was certainly an important message which must be mainstreamed in the structures of any political party, which promises to rescue Nigeria and put it back on the path of national democratic development.
The erstwhile APC chieftain said failing to do that would spell doom for any prospect of challenging and defeating the current APC government of President Tinubu in 2027.
“I15f by October 1, the #EndBadGovernance protest resumes in its amorphous nature without at least the contact team of opposition political leaders being able to intervene and strengthen the organisational nature of the protest, Nigerians should simply write off opposition political leaders as either incompetent, unwilling or not interested of developing the requisite democratic structures to produce truly responsive elected governments and leaders in the country.
He said: “While acknowledging that there are already unfolding initiatives in this direction, the rising anger in the country must be utilised and directed to strengthen the emergence of a veritable functional political party different from APC, PDP, LP and NNPP. As it is, it must be acknowledged that these parties cannot serve as the platforms to rescue Nigeria from its current unfortunate self-inflicted downward spiral producing mass poverty and starvation.
“The restlessness of Nigerian youth must be mobilised and directed appropriately to push INEC to register all new parties that meet every statutory requirement for registration. Whether by design or default, there seems to be an undeclared moratorium for registration of new parties by INEC,” he said.
Lukman further observed that the Tinubu’s administration seems to be on a roller coaster aggrandised spending amid mass hunger and poverty in the country, which is partly responsible for the volatile situation in the country.
He said every committed democrat in the country must wake up to this challenge and seek to mobilise Nigerians to direct their anger creatively and positively towards a reformation of democratic structures in the country.
“Given that a majority political leaders are already aggrieved, and with the way the government has rendered virtually all registered political parties comatose, the process of uniting aggrieved political leaders across all parties must earnestly commence.
“The point is, under no circumstance should political leaders sit back and just watch Nigerian youths with legitimate grievances ignored and left with their frustration. Once that is the case, the predictable outcome will be violence and a breakdown of law and order with a high potential for collateral losses of lives and property.
“If opposition political leaders are to earn the trust of Nigerians, they must begin to develop all the requisite democratic structures guaranteed by Nigerian laws to connect with Nigerians represented by all interests,” Lukman added.
