2027: Campaign To Vote Out Tinubu, Uba Sani Now On – Lukman

• Warns Kaduna gov will lose proxy war against el-Rufai

BY SEGUN ADEBAYO – The immediate-past National Vice Chairman, North-West of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Salihu Mohammed Lukman says the current hardship in the country is daily strengthening Nigerians’ resolve to dump and vote out the ruling party come the 2027 general elections.

Lukman said the stage is now set and the campaign to defeat the ruling APC, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, and all forces of oppression, has just begun and it would take root in Kaduna State.

This is as he also boasted that the people’s hurricane will sweep Governor Uba Sani of Kaduna state out of office, alongside President Tinubu in the next three years.

Lukman, who was the former Director General of the Progressives Governors Forum (PGF) said Governor Sani’s days in office were numbered, and berated him for waging a proxy war against his predecessor, Malam Nasir El-Rufai, on behalf of the presidency.

The former APC Chieftain conveyed his latest position in a letter dated 13th June 2024 and titled; “Issues of Politics and Governance in Kaduna: The Truth”. Copies of the letter were sent to Mallam Nasir El-Rufai, Ramalan Yero, Rt. Hon. Abbas Tajudeen, Mal. B. A. Law-al, Hon. Garba Datti, Senator Suleiman Hunkuyi, Alhaji Bashir Abubakar Alhaji, Mallam Mohammed Sani Dattijo, Alhaji Yusuf Mairago, and Alhaji Lawal Samaila Yakawad.

Warning that the Kaduna Governor was setting a bad precedence that would eventually hurt him, Lukman told him; “I am honestly worried for you. You are setting a precedence that will hurt you. All I can say is, be careful. Maximum, in the next 7 years, you will be out. It would be best if you recognized that without Mallam, it would almost have been impossible for you to rise to where you are today.

“The privilege of being a Governor has an expiry date. In your case, if you are lucky, another seven years. But from how things are unfolding, I believe the default expiry date for your tenure is another three years. Both you and President Bola Ahmed Tinubu have sent out the worrisome signals of being anything but democrats.

“Unfortunately, both President Asiwaju Tinubu and you have alienated yourselves and are behaving as autocrats and if left unchecked, whatever has been achieved under this democracy in the last 25 years will be destroyed. When you invited some of us to a meeting about two months ago, I hoped that you had created the handle to help correct that.

“Sadly, it was reduced to a photo opportunity and the next thing I heard was that there were people among members of the group who were threatened by the presence of some people and had exploited their closeness with you to demobilize the group.

“Consequently, from a situation whereby the group was to reconvene after two weeks, more than two months now, no meeting is being contemplated. This is consistent with the tradition in APC. APC is about the only political party in the world that exists without holding meetings and leaders are comfortable with that. This certainly is not the democracy we fought for. Although you claimed to be among those who fought for democracy, I am not sure from the way you are managing things, you can justify your contributions to the struggle for democracy in Nigeria.

“Mallam Uba, like I said, I am talking to you as a senior brother. The way I have been treated in the last year has pushed me to review whether I want to continue to live with the frustration of watching our hard-earned labour go down the drain. I lived all my life campaigning for a better society. It is my resolve that our current reality doesn’t project the kind of society we want.

“I have therefore made up my mind to return to the trenches and resume mobilisation for change. Unless APC and you, our leaders embrace change and return to some level of sanity, this will require that we mobilize and get you out of power in 2027 at all levels.

“I wish I could spare you. But given that at the end of the day, politics is local, even if you accept to reform yourself but President Tinubu did not embrace reforms, you will be collateral damage. Take it from me, the campaign to defeat APC and President Tinubu is just starting and it will take root in Kaduna State!”

While declaring that no former Governor of Kaduna state has executed development initiatives in the state the way el-Rufai did, Lukman said the issue of the probe should have been handled differently.

“Coming back to the issue of proxy fight, the probe by the House of Assembly is being orchestrated by Hon. Ibrahim Zailani, former Speaker of the House of Assembly. The truth is that before you emerged as the candidate of the party, the animosity between you and Hon. Zailani was deeper and it is to the credit of Mallam that he, in his way, moderated you and prevented you from getting Hon. Zailani impeached as Speaker. Now, suddenly you have become the best allies against Mallam.

“For the records, I am not opposed to probes. But I am opposed to wildcat unplanned probes without clear objectives of what we want to achieve. I believe that Mallam has his strengths and weaknesses and one of his weaknesses is being loyal to his associates.

“Certainly, Mallam Balarabe Lawal Abbas, and you are in the front row among his associates. It is sad to see how within a short period after the exit of Mallam things have degenerated among all of you. No doubt, Mallam would have taken responsibility for several things, but the fact is that it reflects your poor leadership of the state in the last year.

“Partly because of poor leadership, the narrative is that it is the Presidency that is also covertly pushing you. It is no secret that the Presidency is opposed to Mallam, which is responsible for all the avoidable drama around Mallam’s Ministerial nomination. This is most unfortunate”.

Also taking a swipe at the immediate past Governor of Kaduna state, Lukman stated that El-Rufai’s greatest weakness is his inability to prioritise building strong relationships with people in the state and beyond.