A former National Vice Chairman (North West) of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Salihu Lukman, has called on Nigerians to make the defeat of APC and President Bola Tinubu a priority in 2027, emphasising the need to elect truly democratic leaders instead of “emperors.”
The former Director General of the APC Progressive Governors Forum (PGF) expressed concern that Nigeria’s democracy has been subverted, with so-called elected leaders transmuting into authoritarian figures.
Lukman lamented that political structures for consultation and consensus-building have been eroded, adding that political party systems have become undemocratic and a source of national disappointment.
The former party chieftain said: “Our challenging times have remained with us and have become even more challenging. Perhaps, these challenging times define the reality of our life and our existence as Nigerians.
“Its severity calls into question whether indeed there is any chance of life getting better, now or in the foreseeable future. Unfortunately, with self-centred leaders at all levels, whose mission has remained suspect, these challenging times continue to push us into an almost permanent state of misery, disbelief, and negativity.
“So long as we continue to live in a state of misery, disbelief, and negativity, our capacity to apply ourselves and produce positive outcomes in any way possible will continue to elude us.
“This will mean that we will continue to produce bad leaders whose mission will remain suspect. Such leaders will lack the needed initiatives to address Nigeria’s challenges.
“As we enter 2025, we need to ask ourselves the fundamental question: what must we do to begin to turn things around?
“The simple but also very difficult answer is that we, as Nigerians, must believe in ourselves in a positive way. Nigerians must remind themselves about the power of possibility and once again seek to engage leaders with a positive mindset.
“Engaging such leaders should be about emphatically calling on them to be responsive to the needs of citizens. Ideally, this is a very simple calling, which is logical within any democratic setting.
“However, it is also difficult and complicated, given that our democracy has been turned on its head in Nigeria, with so-called elected leaders turning into emperors. Structures required for political consultations and consensus-building are being undermined.
“Political party structures are anything but democratic. In fact, so-called political parties have become catalysts and sources of national disappointment. With hardly any exception, Nigerian political parties have disappointed Nigerians on the same scale.
“As we move towards 2027, it is predictable, given the current trajectory, that Nigerian politicians and political parties will disappoint Nigerians on a bigger scale. The expectations for free, fair, and credible elections in Nigeria may elude us once more.
“Or, as was the case in 2015, we could have relatively free, fair, and credible elections in 2027, which may only result in the defeat of APC and President Bola Tinubu, with the attendant danger of retaining the status quo of producing leaders who are emperors, pretending to resolve Nigeria’s challenges.
“As Nigerians, we must rise to this challenge and make the defeat of APC and President Tinubu not only possible in 2027 but most importantly ensure the election of truly democratic leaders and not emperors.
“The only way that could be possible is if we, as Nigerians, focus on producing a functional political party that respects its own rules,” Lukman noted in the statement titled Political competition should define a new Nigeria.