Nigerians may kick us out in 2027 - APC chieftain warns

Lukman, a former Vice Chairman of APC (North-West), said this at a press conference in Abuja on Wednesday, December 13, 2023, ahead of the presentation of his new book, ‘APC and Transition Politics,’ slated for Tuesday, December 19.

The chieftain noted that the nation's democracy is currently not responsive enough to the yearnings of the citizens, expressing concerns that leaders have become too comfortable with imagining that they can get away with anything.

He said things are gradually slipping out of control under the APC government, warning that Nigerians will kick out the party in the next general elections if the nation continues on this trajectory.

The APC chieftain said, “I think we must be honest. At the moment, our democracy is not responsive enough. I’m worried that our leaders have become very comfortable with imagining that they can do anything and get away with it. 

“We must appeal to our leaders that things are almost getting out of hand at the rate at which we are going under a party that is envisioned to be progressive.

“We are likely going to start witnessing rebellion and if care is not taken by 2027, we will be kicked out of office, which means taking Nigeria back to where it was in 2015. I think we owe our leader the responsibility or President Asiwaju the responsibility to tell him the honest truth.

“My deduction so far, without any reservation, is that we have not made much progress. We need to really open up and engage our leaders in such a way that they don’t relapse to the old ways of remaining in denial simply because we have won the election. 

“It is very clear, and also not a secret, that Nigerians are faced with more challenges. Life is becoming more difficult for them. I keep saying we’re very lucky to have President Asiwaju then as an aspirant. If we didn’t have somebody with his weight, I’m not sure we would succeed to repel the attempt to impose a candidate.”

Lukman, who resigned from the party's National Working Committee (NWC), described his exit as a painful decision. He, however, dismissed the notion that he was forced to quit the system shortly before the emergence of the current National Chairman, Dr Abdullahi Ganduje.

“When I decided to resign from the NWC, it was a very painful thing to do, I must say. It was not as if I enjoyed it. It was a very difficult decision to take. Having taken the decision, I made up my mind that I’m going to find time to document our experiences with the struggle under the transition that brought President Asiwaju Tinubu.

“Of course, I was conscious of the fact that there were some people who were so busy arguing with the leadership of the party that I rebelled against the leadership of President Asiwaju. I didn’t rebel against the leadership of President Asiwaju. All I thought as a person is that we owe the president the duty of telling him the truth, no matter what. And which was what I did,” he added.