Former Director General of the Progressive Governors Forum (PGF), Dr Salihu Lukman, has offered an insight why President Bola Ahmed Tinubu easily emerged presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the build up to the 2023 poll.
Lukman, in a piece titled, “Why Political Parties in Nigeria should be Reformed” explained that Tinubu’s antecedents as a true democrat gave him the edge over his rivals in the presidential primary of the party held in Abuja.
Accusing President Tinubu of alienating himself from the founding fathers of the party, he said he would not be detered from calling for good governance and the reformation of political parties in the country.
Lukman said the public presentation of his book titled: “APC and Transition Politics”, at the Shehu Musa Yar’Adua centre, Abuja on December 19, this year was part of the measures to achieve the goal.
He explained that the goal of the book is to ensure that elected governments and leaders are accountable and responsive to the needs of citizens.
He said: “Here we are as a party, just coming out of election and very lucky to have President Bola Ahmed Tinubu as the leader of the party, who was part of the pro-democracy struggle to bring an end to military rule in the country in 1999.
“My layperson, or innocent person, expectation was that if under former President Muhammadu Buhari we were confused or unable to achieve the vision of making APC a truly progressive party, under President Tinubu, we should have no difficulty in achieving that. Somehow, it would appear politics has taken over everything and business-as-usual has become the orientation.
“We are not and we will never abandon the campaign for democracy in Nigeria. Whatever is responsible for the current orientation can be surmounted and should be conquered. We will not degrade ourselves to becoming antagonists of our party and President Asiwaju Tinubu.”
He expressed confidence that the party is blessed with leaders capable of initiating processes of reform to return it to its founding vision of becoming a progressive party.
“We are also confident that President Asiwaju Tinubu is a committed democrat and truly a progressive politician. We were never wrong in our estimation that out of all the 23 leaders who aspired to become our presidential candidates for the 2023 general elections, he was best qualified.
“Therefore, as party members and leaders, we must continue to engage him to live up to all the promises we made to Nigerians since 2015. We must work hard and make all the necessary sacrifices to ensure that both President Asiwaju Tinubu and the APC succeed in moving Nigerian democracy forward,” he said. (Guardian)
