In a press briefing held in Abuja on Wednesday, Dr. Salihu Lukman, the former director general of the Progressives Governors Forum (PGF), raised concerns over the future of Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s re-election prospects in 2027, stating that Tinubu is at risk of losing re-election in 2027.
Lukman, who recently resigned from his position as APC’s national vice chairman (North West), expressed apprehension about a potential rebellion within the party.
Addressing journalists, Lukman asserted that the current APC-led administration is falling short of meeting the expectations of Nigerians. He emphasized the need for the party to embrace a more progressive stance and criticized the perceived complacency of party leaders.
Lukman stated, “And I think we must be honest and this is the point I say to our leaders, without any inhibition. At the moment, our democracy is not responsive enough. And as a party of vision to be progressive, it is certainly not yet progressive.
“And I think I’m worried that our leaders have become very comfortable to imagine 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.”
The politician, a staunch supporter of Tinubu, revealed that his upcoming book, titled “APC and Transition Politics,” aims to contribute to the repositioning of the party in preparation for the 2027 polls.
Lukman stressed the importance of a deeper reflection among party leaders and urged them to reassess their role as representatives of Nigerians.
Lukman articulated, “So having produced the book, my first challenge was to say okay, how do I set up a platform using the book to get our leaders to have some deeper reflection and begin to now come up with strategies to engage both President Asiwaju and all elected leaders produced by the party to really go back to the drawing board and re-adjust in such a way that they see themselves as truly representatives of Nigerians, not emperors presiding over subjects. Nigerians are not the subjects of elected representatives.
READ MORE: EFCC Declares Former Minister Of Power Ogunloye Wanted Over Corruption Scandal
“Now, having said all of these and which is why in the last piece I released out, I tried to show some of my background. My position generally is that we must not be in politics simply because we want to earn a living.
“Life is difficult. People who ordinarily should not be struggling for food are today struggling for food.
“And this should not be happening under the leadership of a party that is envisioned to be progressive. And I keep saying I don’t have any question, I believe Asiwaju is the committed democrat and he is a progressive politician. And I believe he will have no difficulty relating with the issues I’m raising.
“And in terms of reforming democracy is not about just to serve people who are in office now, is to serve Nigerians. Our democracy must be responsive to the point that Nigerians can make a demand and elected leaders who listen to the demand of Nigerians and translate that into policies of government, or decisions of government in the way that begin to meets the expectations of Nigerians. That is the value of democracy. Once democracy cannot achieve that, then we have a problem,” he concluded.