In an open letter to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, Salihu Mohammed Lukman, a former National Vice Chairman (North West) of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), highlighted concerning signs during the initial months of Tinubu’s administration, as reported by Daily Trust news.
In a letter titled “Alarming Indications: An Open Letter to President Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu,” published on Monday in Abuja, Lukman accused the President of enforcing a Muslim-Muslim situation within the party following his victory in the February 25 elections.
The letter reads, “Your Excellency, I find it very compelling to send this open letter to you because there are disturbing signals, which if not averted could produce bigger problems and irreversibly destroy our electoral bility as a party. Without attempting to question your authority and commitment to the wellbeing of Nigeria as a nation, within the short period since May 29, 2023 when you assumed office, there are decisions you took, which are very disturbing to many of us who are loyal party members.”
He continued, “Rather than even attempting to respond to that challenge and demonstrate that truly we only invoked the Muslim-Muslim ticket as an electoral strategy, in a very insensitive manner we imposed another Muslim-Muslim scenario in the party with national chairman and national secretary both Muslims. And we want to claim we are a progressive party? What is the brand of our progressive politics? Certainly, not the one which Nigerians expect, which endears us to citizens, on account of which Nigerians gave us the mandate to manage the affairs of government since 2015. As it is, both as party members and as Nigerians, our expectation from your government has crashed.”
He cataloged additional “troubling indicators,” including the present currency conversion rate (dollar to naira), the cost of fuel at the pump, and his selection of ministers, among other points. He also raised concerns over the endorsement of both Dr. Abdullahi Umar Ganduje and Ajibola Bashiru, who are Muslims, for the positions of APC’s national chairman and secretary. He noted that, this decision has caused unease among party members and the general public.
Expressing disappointment, he pointed out that while Bashiru, hailing from Osun State, was chosen to replace the departing national secretary Iyiola Omisore from the same state, Tinubu did not allow a former Nasarawa State governor, Umaru Tanko Al-Makura, who is also a loyalist, or any other prominent APC member from Nasarawa State to succeed the resigning national chairman Adamu. Instead, another Muslim-Muslim pairing was endorsed. The former APC vice chairman also raised doubts about the criteria used in ministerial appointments. In light of these developments, he questioned whether Tinubu’s “Renewed Hope” agenda could be effectively carried out.
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