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A former National Vice Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Salihu Lukman, has voiced the need to have functional political parties in Nigeria.
According to him, Nigeria currently lacks functional political parties, which is not good for the country’s democracy.
To this end, he said aggrieved leaders in the APC, such as former Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, former Minister Rotimi Amaechi and opposition party leaders such as Atiku Abubakar, Peter Obi, as well as many others, must form an alliance and work together for victory in 2027.
In a statement on Monday, Lukman also accused President Bola Tinubu of weakening the structures within the APC.
He said under Tinubu’s leadership, all political parties have similarly been undermined, leading to a situation where Nigeria is described as a democracy lacking functional political parties.
He also accused Tinubu of making life unbearable for Nigerians in a way that has never happened before in the history of the country.
According to Lukman, Tinubu has performed worse than former presidents Muhammadu Buhari and Goodluck Jonathan.
“Admittedly, while former President Goodluck Jonathan faced criticism, former President Buhari has proven to be worse, failing to meet the expectations of Nigerians. Now, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu appears to be exacerbating these issues. Within less than two years, President Tinubu has made life increasingly unbearable for Nigerians in a way not seen in the country’s history,” he stated.
Lukman, therefore stressed the need for the opposition parties and alienated leaders of the APC to come together and rescue Nigeria while looking beyond just defeating APC and President Tinubu in the 2027 elections.
Lukman cautioned that if the goal is merely to establish a new party that produces candidates for various offices, Nigerians risk ending up with an opposition that is weak and indistinguishable from the APC, Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Labour Party (LP), New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP), and other current parties.
He emphasized that the need for political parties to be more than mere platforms for electoral contests.
“The best way to do this is to ensure that the leaders of the new opposition party are genuine members of the opposition, not mere surrogates. This would require that key figures, such as Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, Mr. Peter Obi, Senator Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso, and Senator Aminu Waziri Tambuwal, serve in critical leadership roles, such as National Chairman and National Secretary. Additionally, alienated leaders from the APC, including Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, Chief Rotimi Amaechi, Dr. Kayode Fayemi, Malam Nasir El-Rufai, and Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, should also be involved in building the new political opposition party.
“The leadership profile of the new opposition party will indicate whether the agenda for rescuing Nigeria is limited to merely winning elections or is accompanied by a genuine commitment to establish a strong party capable of holding elected representatives accountable. If the leadership excludes frontline opposition figures, it merely signals a continuation of the status quo. This was evident with the APC, where critical issues related to party funding remain ad hoc to this day,” he stated.
