…says coalition talks at final stage

• We’re not concerned about their activities, says APC spokesperson

A former National Vice Chairman (North-West) of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Hon. Salihu Lukman, has alleged that governors elected under the platform of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) are covertly working for the ruling APC ahead of the 2027 general elections.

Lukman, who recently exited the APC and joined a coalition of political actors working to form a new political front, made the statement during an interview on Channels Television’s Morning Brief on Friday.

He disclosed that talks among key political stakeholders about forming a broad-based coalition were in the final stages, as he lamented that the APC had strayed from its founding progressive ideals.

In response on the same programme, APC National Publicity Secretary, Felix Morka, dismissed concerns about the coalition, saying that the ruling party was focused on governance and preparing strategically for 2027.

Lukman lamented that most political parties in Nigeria no longer function as proper institutions, stating that parties that ignore their constitutions, fail to hold regular meetings, and have unaccountable elected officials cannot be considered functional in the classical sense.

He said: “This is the dilemma Nigerians are facing. As a founding member of the APC, I know the inspiration that drove us to form the party, which was basically to correct all the problems the PDP was presenting to the country.

“The basic problem was that at that time the PDP created a situation, where it was imposed at all levels, and internal contest within the party was completely truncated.

“APC came with the promise of change and these were the things the party wanted to change.

“In 2014, when we did the primary at all levels, with the presidential primary on December 10, 2014, you would say that there was a fair contest.

“Those who won were those who contested the election on the platform of the APC. But as we moved from 2019 onwards, things began to degenerate.

“As you can see now, the APC has moved from the party that was envisioned to be a progressive party to almost a party that has become a monarchy because as it is now, the APC mantra is that in 2027 there would be no internal contest.”

He stressed that under the APC, the President, all the governors and all the legislators have been adopted for other terms.

He revealed that the first thing they did, having recognised the fact that the major crisis Nigeria has as a nation is that the country does not have political parties, was to register a new political party.

According to him, at the moment, there are more than 70 applications lying in the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) unprocessed.

“So, we saw that clearly there is almost a stage-managed process whereby we felt that in 2027, there would be no party that can oppose the ruling party.

“On that basis, we now had to come back and start looking at the possibility of looking at an existing party, negotiate with them and see if we can have an agreement to join them and set clear conditions.

“Some of the conditions are that there has to be a complete change of the leadership of the party.

“There has to be complete reorientation including changing the constitution of the party so that we are not taking over a party just for the purposes of contesting elections and defeating the current government.

“We want to present to Nigerians a new reality which would address all the frustrations.

“For instance, the issue of internal contest and this is the backbone of the negotiation.

“We want to ensure that internally in the new party, there would be a contest and the winners would be the candidates of the party.

“Beyond that, we want to set up a new orientation in terms of the fact that when people win elections, they are accountable to the party.

“It’s not for the elected representatives to become new emperors and dictate to the leaders of the party.

“This is the roadmap that we have set for ourselves and the negotiation is almost concluded,” he said.

While saying that nothing would stop the coalition from coming into fruition, Lukman said that they are going through a painstaking process, and that it is wrong to say that the PDP block is not in the coalition.

He added: “The PDP block is there, even when the governors claimed, for instance, that they are not part of the coalition, we responded clearly.

“Some of them as you have seen, it is either they have already moved to the APC, or some of them are on their way to the party.

“Clearly, they are doing the bidding of the APC and the government of President Bola Tinubu.

“We are not bothered about that. But we have the PDP block in the coalition and there is nothing for us.

“We are going through a painstaking process and very soon, and it will be sooner than people expect, we will come out and we will clarify all the details in terms of the orientation of the party, the conditions, how we are going to contest the 2027 elections and the leaders of the coalition.”

Morka: We’re focused, not distracted

Morka, in his response, said the party is unbothered by the coalition’s activities, emphasising that the APC remains the destination of choice for many Nigerians.

“We are not concerned so much about the activities of the so-called coalition because we are too busy putting our platforms together.

“The APC, as you noted, has been a destination of choice for a number of politicians and citizens who think and believe that this President has unfolded a vision that they can relate with.

“They see where this is going and they see that this President has embarked on a course that is promising to set Nigeria straight and correct generational mistakes that have been made.

“Every President raises up his hand to take the oath of office, he doesn’t take it for other parties or his party, he takes the oath to serve dutifully to the best of his ability.

“This President is doing just that,” he said.

Morka added that President Tinubu should be judged on his governance record, not political speculation.

He also criticised the PDP’s 16-year rule, calling it a disaster, and noted that former president Muhammadu Buhari served as a “stop-gap” president who set the stage for Tinubu’s more transformative leadership.

He stressed that the President is a busy man, and that the APC is doing what political parties are meant to do.

He said: “I hear commentaries where people say why is APC endorsing the President, but, why is the opposition putting together a coalition?

“This is a political process. We are in a political democracy.

“The opposition will do what they are meant to do and they can do whatever they want to do under the law and under a democratic system.

“The ruling party also has the same right to do what it needs to do to advance its own case before Nigerians.

“I don’t think people should get unnecessarily hysterical about the activities of the APC or people joining the APC.

“When people are coming together to form a coalition, do you expect the APC to be void and not do anything?”

The APC spokesman insisted that the party would not be quiet, but that they would do their own part within the framework of the law and within the system that the nation operates, which he said is a democratic system.

“We will respond as we move and take initiatives like we did yesterday with our National Summit.

“We only brought our party together and demonstrated our seriousness.

“Prior to when former president Muhammadu Buhari came in, we were operating an economy where votes for critical national investments and assets were literally taken and diverted to activities and expenditure that were unknown to our budgetary process,” he said.