Former National Vice Chairman, North West of the All Progressives Congress, Salihu Lukman, held meetings with former Osun State Governor and pioneer national chairman of the Party, Bisi Akande, and former Edo state governor who was equally a former national chairman of the party, Senator Adams Oshiomhole.
According to a statement by Lukman, he met the two former national chairmen separately on September 18 and 28, respectively.
Lukman, who resigned as the national vice chairman of the APC National Working Committee on the eve of the emergence of Abdullahi Umar Ganduje as national chairman, described his audience with both former national chairmen as frank and fruitful.
He noted that the duo of Akande and Senator Oshiomhole expressed concern about the need to return the ruling party to the vision of its founding fathers.
His statement reads in part: “I met two former National Chairmen of the APC, Chief Bisi Akande and Comrade Adams Oshiomhole.
First, I met Chief Akande on September 18, and today, September 28, I met Comrade Oshiomhole. In both of the two meetings, we discussed recent developments in APC, including the initiative to produce the publication ‘APC and Transition Politics’.
Both of the two leaders welcomed the initiative and expressed concern about recent experiences that eroded the democratic space within the party.
In particular, both leaders acknowledged the leadership role of President Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu in resisting attempts by some conservative leaders within the party to impose a consensus presidential candidate for the 2023 elections.
Notably, they both recalled how many leaders of the APC had to rise against a determined effort by fellow party leaders to undermine the APC’s electoral victory during the 2023 elections.
“While commending the initiative to document these experiences, the two leaders were unanimous that returning APC to its founding vision of becoming a progressive party will require consistent struggle against conservative elements both within the party and outside.
It is not going to be an easy battle and would require a strong commitment and capacity to stubbornly continue to campaign for the restoration of democratic values within the APC.
“Comrade Adams was emphatic that progressive leaders within the APC must encourage disagreements as a basis for nurturing the growth and development of both the party and Nigeria’s democracy.
He recalled some of the disagreements we had when he was National Chairman and how my ability to express my disagreement with his positions had defined our relationship since our time in the National Union of Textiles in the early 1990s.
“It was a rare privilege meeting these leaders. It is both inspiring, reassuring, and challenging listening to their perspectives about development in APC and what needs to be done to return the APC to its founding vision.
My hope is to provoke a deeper internal debate within the APC about developing the APC to achieve its founding vision.
“The engagement will continue. APC and Transition Politics will be produced, and hopefully, they will be used to facilitate a deeper internal debate within the APC and the future of Nigerian democracy.
One of the goals of that deeper internal debate will be about transforming the APC to go beyond being just an electoral vehicle, limited to only producing candidates for elections.
To become a progressive political party is about being organically connected with Nigerians, based on which both the party and the governments it produces will be both responsive and representative of the wider interests of Nigerians.”
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