A former National Vice Chairman of the All Progressives Congress, Salihu Lukman, has publicly stated that there is no significant difference between the All Progressive Congress and the Peoples Democratic Party.
Lukman made these remarks during an interview on Channels Television’s Sunday Politics.
Providing context, Lukman explained that the APC, which was formed to replace the PDP, is now becoming worse than the party it aimed to succeed.
He highlighted that the PDP had devolved into a one-man show where internal democracy was abandoned, and candidates were imposed on the electorate. This issue, according to Lukman, was a major motivation for the formation of the APC.
Lukman elaborated that the concept behind the APC was to merge opposition parties to defeat the PDP and address its failings.
He noted, “We were clear on the kind of party APC should be. We saw the weaknesses of the PDP, apart from the imposition of candidates, part of the problem was that elected candidates were not accountable to the party or anybody and we thought building the APC would depart from that and that was where the slogan ‘change’ came from.”
The former APC chieftain recalled that during discussions about the party’s manifesto, the vision was to create a social democratic party prioritizing health, education, and social services. However, he lamented that the party has since deviated from these goals.
Lukman pointed to the administration of former President Muhammadu Buhari as the beginning of the party’s issues, describing Buhari as an emperor due to his dominant influence as the party’s main electoral asset. “We were hoping with Asiwaju (President Bola Ahmed Tinubu), things will start changing. Things rather got worse,” Lukman added.
He criticized the current state of the APC, noting that several of its organs have not convened since its formation and that the party has not held any meetings in the past year, despite controlling the government.
