•Lukman and Tinubu
A former presidential adviser to the president on politics, Salihu Lukman, has expressed concern that the ruling party is gradually moving away from its founding ideals of progressivism toward a structure that resembles centralised control.
Lukman, who spoke on Channels Television today, lamented that internal contests had been abandoned in favour of automatic adoptions.
While reflecting on his role in the formation of the APC, he expressed disappointment in the party’s current direction, claiming it had drifted from its founding ideals.
“The APC has moved from a party envisioned to be progressive to almost a monarchy.
“As it is now, the APC mantra is that there will be no internal contest in 2027 — the president is adopted. All their governors are adopted. Legislators are also adopted,” he added.
Lukman also said none of the political parties in Nigeria function as real parties in the classical sense.
According to him, political organisations that do not uphold their constitutions or hold regular internal meetings cannot be considered true parties.
“Any party whose elected representatives are not accountable is not a party in the classical sense,” he said.
The former APC National Vice Chairman (Northwest), however, revealed that negotiations for a new opposition alliance ahead of the 2027 elections were in their final stages.
He said discussions had been ongoing for over a year to establish a viable platform capable of challenging the current political status quo.
‘Nothing Stopping Coalition’
According to Lukman, the coalition aims to contest the 2027 general elections by either forming a new political party or transforming an existing one.
He said, “There is nothing stopping the coalition from coming to fruition.
“Even when the governors claimed, for instance, they were not part of the coalition, we responded clearly. Some of them, as you have seen, either have already moved to the APC or are on their way to move to the APC.
“So, clearly, they are doing the bidding of the APC and the ‘Asiwaju’ government. So, we are not bothered about that. We have the PDP bloc in the coalition and nothing is stopping the coalition.
“We are going through a painstaking process and very soon, we are going to come out and clarify all the details, in terms of how we are going to contest the 2027 elections and the leaders of the coalition; all those will be known.
On the rationale behind the coalition effort, Lukman explained that the main crisis facing Nigeria’s democracy was the absence of genuine political parties.
He, however, noted that efforts are now focused on negotiating with an existing party to transform it structurally and ideologically.
He explained that conditions set by the coalition include a complete leadership overhaul, constitutional reforms, and a new internal culture where candidates emerge through transparent contests.
He stated that the coalition was not merely seeking to win power but to redefine Nigeria’s political landscape.
“We want to present to Nigerians a new reality that addresses all the frustrations. We want to ensure that internally, winners emerge through contests, and when people win elections, they are accountable to the party,” Lukman added.
