A former National Vice Chairman (North West) of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Salihu Lukman, has declared that Nigerians must unite to democratically unseat President Bola Tinubu in the 2027 general elections.
Lukman, who was a vocal critic of the APC when Abdullahi Ganduje was the chairman before resigning, accused the current administration of failing woefully in economic and leadership responsibilities.
Lukman resigned from the ruling APC in June 2024 over what he called a lack of internal democracy and poor leadership in the country.
Speaking on Wednesday while appearing on Arise TV, in his new capacity as a promoter of the opposition coalition, which is operating under the platform of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), Lukman said Tinubu has failed woefully.
“I am one of those who really stood by Asiwaju when I was in APC. I campaigned for him, but the hard truth must be told: he has failed, and we are feeling it in the reality of our living conditions today,” Lukman stated.
“To that extent, therefore, as far as I’m concerned, we will exert our democratic rights to get him out of the place.
“But that will not in any way jeopardise any negotiation to protect issues of equity, inclusivity, and what have you.”
Once a vocal reform advocate within the APC, Lukman resigned after a series of clashes with the party leadership, especially over the handling of candidate selection and failure to deliver on promises made to Nigerians.
In his resignation letter in 2024, Lukman accused the APC of deviating from its founding progressive ideology and becoming a platform for personal political interests.
Since then, he has emerged as a critical voice in the opposition’s push to form a united political front ahead of the next presidential election.
On Tuesday, he raised an alarm that the ADC might follow the usual pattern common among Nigerian political parties, where they impose candidates for elective positions.
The National Chairman of the ADC, David Mark, swiftly shot the allegation down, assuring that all candidates would emerge through Democratic means.
Lukman, however, gave reasons why he left the APC, saying, “I left the APC not out of bitterness but because the party abandoned the values it once stood for.
“There was no longer any meaningful engagement about governance. Everything became about protecting power, not serving the people,” he said on Wednesday.
Warning against repeating old mistakes, he said, “With the way things are going, coalition leaders will emerge as godfathers, and the next thing is that they will impose their surrogates at all levels as leaders of the ADC,” he warned.
“That is what destroyed the APC and weakened the PDP before it. If we’re not careful, history will repeat itself under a different name.”
He added, “People can’t eat. Businesses are shutting down. The middle class is disappearing. And yet the government continues to act as though everything is fine,” Lukman said.
He called on civil society, political parties, and well-meaning Nigerians to begin mobilising ahead of 2027 to prevent what he described as “a complete collapse of democratic accountability and governance”.
Lukman maintained that any effort to remove the president must be strictly democratic, lawful, and focused on restoring Nigeria’s founding democratic ideals.
“This is not about bitterness. It’s about rebuilding Nigeria. Tinubu’s presidency has failed. It’s time to give Nigerians another chance at real leadership.”
