‘APC Has Reached A Point Of Candidates Imposition, Rigging, Vote Buying’ – Ex-Vice Chairman, Salihu Lukman

A former National Vice Chairman (North-West) of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Salihu Lukman, has condemned the leadership style under the new Chairman of the party, Abdullahi Ganduje.

According to Lukman, in the last four of Ganduje’s takeover, the leadership arms of the party have failed to hold meetings as directed by the laws guiding the party.

Lukman claimed that APC has reached the point where the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) was in 2007 in manipulating political contests through imposition, vote buying and rigging.

The APC chieftain in a statement released on Tuesday, noted that it might grow to the point where almost all APC candidates for 2027 elections might be produced through imposition.

Lukman, however, appealed to Tinubu and APC leaders to resist the temptation of overindulging themselves with the false belief that they could continue to succeed in imposing their choices on Nigerians.

The statement reads, “APC with all the vision of emerging as a progressive political party is being destroyed. Suddenly, APC leaders, sadly, including President Asiwaju Tinubu have assumed the overdrive mode of operating with hardly any strong respect for internal democracy within the APC. Otherwise, what could explain the current happenings in APC whereby none of the party organs is functioning as provided in the APC constitution.

“It is almost a return to the old PDP model of party organisation under former President Olusegun Obasanjo with the requirement of 100 percent loyalty. Without any attempt to reopen old wounds, the requirement for 100 percent loyalty was responsible for the graveyard silence internally within the APC when Dr Abdullahi Umar Ganduje was proposed by President Asiwaju Tinubu as National Chairman.

“After Dr. Ganduje’s successful emergence, there is also graveyard silence even when Dr. Ganduje continued with the practice of freezing structures of the party. No meetings of organs are taking place almost four months after the emergence of Dr. Ganduje as the APC National Chairman.

“Given such ugly reality, it should only be expected that the culture of manipulating political contests through imposition, vote buying, rigging, etc. would become entrenched in APC.

“Like the case in PDP in 2007, it may grow to the point where almost all APC candidates for 2027 elections may be produced through imposition. Unless we want to lie to ourselves, as things are, the culture of manipulating political contests through imposition, vote buying, rigging, etc. in APC has reached the point where PDP was in 2007.”