Caption: Dr Salihu Lukman, former APC,NWC member
Anjola Folajimi – Kaduna –
Former member of the National Working Committee (NWC) of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), Dr. Salihu Moh. Lukman has told the party’s National Chairman, Dr. Abudullahi Umar Ganduje to justify the confidence President Bola Ahmed Tinubu repose on him by providing the leadership needed to move the party forward.
This charge was contained in a 5-page letter to the National Chairman, a copy which was leaked to the press in Kaduna dated April 2 and copied President Tinubu, his Vice, Kashim Shetimma and the party’s founding National Chairman, Chief Bisi Akande.
Lukman who was the immediate past National Vice Chairman (North West) of the party in the letter titled “Moving APC Forward” lamented that since the emergence of Ganduje, the party is still struggling to return back to the vision of its founding fathers.
Faulting the emergence of Ganduje despite its ratification by the National Executive Committee (NEC) he lamented that the party under Ganduje has failed to introduce initiatives that will help cure the malady eroding the progressive credentials of the APC
According to the former Director General of the Progressive Governors’ Forum (PGF), “I am compelled to once more appeal to you to kindly justify the confidence of President Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu on your leadership capacity to move our great party, APC, forward. Moving APC forward, as it is, is largely a function of restoring constitutional order, based on which the prospect of returning the party to its founding vision of becoming a progressive party can be achieved.
Abdullahi Ganduje,APC Chairman
“Sincerely, having emerged as the National Chairman against every rational consideration, my candid expectation is that you will justify your emergence by ensuring that you, at the minimum, you restore Constitutional order in the party. Sadly, instead, what we have is business as usual.
“Eight months under your leadership, no NEC meeting has held, which is supposed to be at least once every quarter. If the Constitution of the party had been respected, at least two NEC meetings would have held. No meeting of National Caucus has taken place.
“The National Advisory Council is yet to be inaugurated. Because all the higher organs of the party have been frozen, the National Working Committee (NWC) is not honouring its obligation of presenting annual national budgets for the operations of the party in line with provisions Article 13.3(xiv) of the APC Constitution. Similarly, the obligation of presenting quarterly financial reports on income and expenditure of the party is not respected.
President Bola Tinubu,President,Federal Republic of Nigeria
“Without annual national budgets, the party has failed to establish a clearly defined funding framework. Consequently, the NWC and its members, including yourself are being reduced to beggars, at the mercy of elected representatives. This is a matter I draw your attention to the first time we met on September 4, 2023 after your emergence as the National Chairman of APC, for which I offered to present proposal to you, which I did and submitted to you on October 24, 2023.”
He further lamented that, “With all that has taken place since your emergence as the APC National Chairman, it is very easy to conclude that you have simply repeated and deepened all the mistakes of past APC leadership.
You have been unable to recreate the party based on which organs of the party as provided in the APC Constitution are made functional. As things are, if allowed to continue, the risk of losing elections is high.
“Even in North West where you come from, party organisation has been weakened under your leadership in virtually all our states. Under your watch, you are unable to regulate the excessive conducts of some leaders. Consequently, leadership crisis is snowballing in many states with hardly any visible indication of efforts from your leadership to intervene and resolve the issues.”
End.
