By Jude Opara, Abuja
The former National Vice Chairman (North West ) of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Mallam Salihu Lukman has stated that the immediate past governor of Kaduna state, Mallam Nasir El-Rufai defected to the Social Democratic Party (SDP) because the APC which promised ‘change’ has become worse than what the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) before they voted out in 2015.
Speaking with newsmen on Monday in Abuja, Lukman who is an associate of El-Rufai said the APC has repeated all that they accused the PDP of including imposition of candidates and refusal to allow internal democracy to thrive.
“I am close to Mallam El-Rufai to the extent that we come from the same state and were in the same party. And I had the privilege of being nominated by him to serve in the National Working Committee (NWC) of APC. Of course, as everybody knows, we have our own disagreements. But one of the clear cases is the fact that the issue of whether Mallam is going to remain in APC or not is a foretold story.
“It’s expected even after the interview he granted on Arise TV, you can see the handwriting. But whether it is going to come so soon is what even I couldn’t have said. My expectation was that he should have been a bit patient for us to walk out as a group based on the current negotiation that is ongoing.
“But he knows better and I do hope his decision is not going to become like a kind of break away from whatever we are doing. My hope is that at the end, we should be able to reconcile and work together under one platform”.
On the impact of his defection and the much talked about coalition of opposition political parties ahead of the 2027 elections, Lukman said; “I think the discussion about whether SDP will be there or not has been an ongoing thing. The challenge is a question of whether SDP will submit itself to some of the conditions that we believe are necessary”.
However, the former member of the APC NWC warned that unlike most conventional politicians, who just want a platform where they will present candidates and use it to win elections, there are a number of people like him who believe the issue is beyond just capturing power.
“What Nigerians need is a platform that will promote political competition in the country. If you remember, the problem Nigerians had with PDP is the problem of imposition of candidates. And when the APC came and promised ‘Change’, the expectation of Nigerians is that we will change the culture of imposition.
“Unfortunately, we have failed in that. In fact, it has become worse. If things continue as they are, you can predict that President Bola Tinubu will become the candidate of APC, and you can predict all the first-time governors of APC will emerge as the candidate of APC, whether they are popular in their states or not. You can also predict all legislators at federal and state levels, whether they have performed or not. So long as they are in the good books of Asiwaju and the party leadership, they will be returned”.
Lukman also revealed that he can only join SDP if they meet the conditions they have set. He accepted that they are discussing, though the conditions are yet to be met.
