A former National Vice Chairman, Northwest of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Salihu Lukman, has told opposition political leaders in the country that their current carefree or unserious disposition could produce a disastrous outcome, with Nigerians possibly unable to change President Bola Tinubu’s government in 2027.
Lukman opposition political leaders in this guise refer mainly to the arrowhead of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Labour Party (LP), and New Nigerian Peoples Party (NNPP)—former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, ex-governors Peter Obi and Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso, and all the stranded APC leaders who are being “deliberately, arrogantly and absurdly rendered idle by President Tinubu.”
The erstwhile APC chieftain said in a statement. However, these leaders share a concern that the situation in the country has deteriorated and is still further deteriorating; there is hardly any definitive engagement with the clear objective of mobilising Nigerians to effect a change in 2027.
He admitted that there are isolated ongoing discussions about what needs to be done in 2027. Still, it was very worrisome that those discussions are yet to graduate to structured political engagements on the platforms of any of the existing opposition political parties.
Lukman insisted that Nigerians must call on Atiku, Obi, Kwankwaso and all the orphaned APC leaders to wake up to the responsibility of rescuing the country from bad governance by commencing structured negotiations devoid of personal ambitions aimed at producing alternative political platforms in the country.
“Unfortunately, if anything, it is almost a case that all the existing registered political parties are decidedly in support of President Asiwaju Tinubu and, to that extent, therefore, working covertly for his second term victory in 2027. So far, arguably, none of the parties that ordinarily should be leading the opposition to President Tinubu’s government are trying to recruit and unite opposition political leaders in the country.
“Instead, all the leading opposition political parties are embroiled in some embarrassing internal crisis, which has pitched leaders of the parties against each other.
“It is pretty appalling, for instance, that PDP leaders are antagonistic to Alh. Atiku Abubakar, Mr Peter Obi is amid a helpless survival leadership battle in LP, and Sen. Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso is overriding a directionless NNPP whose roof is being torn apart by none other than its so-called leaders.
“And all the other parties, including SDP and PRP, have adopted a monarchic behaviour. They sit in their comfort zones, waiting for disgruntled and aggrieved opposition political leaders to come to them for some ‘royal’ covers. Perhaps it could also be a case of waiting to harvest good political businesses through dealmaking in 2027, the standard political practice in Nigeria since the commencement of the current Fourth Republic,” he said.
According to the former Director General of the Progressives Governors Forum, negotiating to produce an alternative political platform requires negotiating new policy commitments to resolve the country’s challenges.
“Beyond lamentations and condemning the current government whenever the problem of insecurity results in avoidable loss of lives and property, what is it that opposition political leaders propose to undertake when elected to recruit enough security personnel and equip them adequately to secure the nation?
“Given the crisis in the educational sector at all levels resulting in more than 15 million out-of-school children, what are the specific proposals of opposition political leaders? How do the opposition political leaders intend to manage the economy differently to produce the desired outcome of reducing poverty and unemployment and developing the country’s productive capacity?
“If Nigeria is to come out of the current mess, we will find ourselves in an aggressive human development policy to replace the current avaricious disposition, which has damaged the psyche of leaders so much that management of government and public policies is reduced to permutations that invariably makes public resources personal wealth of government officials.
“Once the commitment of opposition political leaders is only about supporting their ambition to become candidates for 2027 elections, it only means that they are not committed to building the structures of political parties.
“Weak commitment to building the structures of political parties is responsible for the current tragedy whereby Nigeria is a democracy that despises meetings. We are a so-called democratic nation that undermines and destroys all structures that promote negotiations.
“The reality is that if by the end of December 2024, no structured engagement has commenced based on a strategic initiative to develop the alternative political platform, oriented based on the 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 added.