Tinubu, APC Cannot Win Elections Except Through Rigging, Lukman Says, As He Quits Party

The immediate-past National Vice Chairman, Northwest of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Salihu Moh Lukman has declared that there is no way President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and the All Progressives Congress (APC), can win an election except through rigging.

He said the hard truth is that the country will be lucky to get to 2027 without witnessing upheavals going by the unprecedented hardship being experienced by the people.

Lukman, who stated this on Wednesday, June 12, 2024 when he officially announced his resignation from the Party, pointedly said the ruling APC has outlived its usefulness and can no longer win elections without rigging.

In a statement titled, “APC and The Future of Nigerian Democracy: Letter to Selected APC Leaders,” Lukman said it is a shared concern of most leaders of the party that the situation in the country has deteriorated in the last one year since the assumption of office of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.

He noted that given the reality that the party structures have been demobilized and the government is implementing policies that have eroded the value of the incomes of citizens, conditions of living are rapidly getting worse by the day, stressing that with that, both the APC and the governments it controls are getting more and more unpopular.

Lukman further said that it doesn’t require any investigation, at this rate that there is no way the APC can win an election except through rigging.

He further said; “The popular saying in the country now is that President Tinubu is a one-term President. The hard truth is that the country will be lucky to get to 2027 without witnessing upheavals”.

Lukman stressed that given the experiences of Nigerians with former President Muhammadu Buhari and now with President Tinubu, Nigerians must learn the appropriate lessons by ensuring that moving forward they must prioritize the development of a strong party organization, which can subordinate the President and all elected representatives under the control of organs of the party.

In his words; “Given all this, it is possible to remain in APC if at all President Tinubu will allow internal reform in the party to return it to its founding vision, which as it is, is very remote.

“But my reality now in the party is that my membership has been rendered useless and there is no need for me to continue to impose myself. I have therefore gone back to the trenches and will try to work with all committed Nigerians who agree and subscribe to the goal of actively campaigning for the survival and development of democracy in Nigeria,” he enthused.

Lukman noted that all organs of the ruling APC have been frozen, saying that there is hardly any functional channel of internal communication.

According to him; “We must grow our democracy to the point whereby elected representatives at all levels are accountable to the party and it is possible for Nigerians represented by various interests to develop strong relationships with political parties and elected governments based on which policies of governments can be made to reflect wider interests of Nigerians”.

Lukman prayed that God Almighty will touch the heart of President Tinubu to make him recover whatever is left of his democratic credentials, adding that he has lost hope that after one-year of planless leadership, not much can be achieved during Tinubu’s tenure.

He further said; “It therefore behooves all patriots, democrats and progressives in the country to take up the responsibility of organizing and mobilizing Nigerians towards rescuing Nigerian democracy.

“As it is, APC and the government of President Tinubu has been lost to the whirlwind. Just like we campaigned against military rule and the PDP, we must rise to the task of campaigning against the President Asiwaju whirlwind,” he stressed.