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Former National Vice Chairman North-West of the All Progressives Congress (APC) Salihu Lukmam has called for concerted efforts to establish a viable platform to put APC in its rightful place.
He said the development would overcome what he described as the current extreme right-wing adventurously unplanned leadership of President Bola Tinubu.
In a statement issued in Kaduna, Lukman said the way and manner both former President Muhammadu Buhari and President Tinubu had managed the affairs of the country without consulting party leadership and structures in the last nine years is making a mockery of democracy.
He added that the survival and further development of Nigerian democracy must not be allowed to be limited to the discretion of individual leaders, no matter how powerful they are.
“The ruling party has neither concrete plans for security and advancement of Nigerians, nor the wherewithal to do so even if it had one. Suffice to say that it had thrived on the maxim 'promise nothing, do nothing',” Lukman said.
He noted, “Instead, with hardly any exception, since 2015, all governments at all levels controlled by the APC operated based on the practice of business-as-usual. Problems of corruption, insecurity and economic crisis have gotten worse. Crisis of high cost of living, rising unemployment and high level of poverty are becoming unbearable. The nation is on the edge of social outburst.
“Unfortunately, the APC, even under President Bola Tinubu is turning out to be unable to respond to the problem of high cost of living, rising unemployment and higher levels of poverty and mitigate the hardship facing ordinary Nigerians.
“Unfortunately, all we have is grandstanding by the government so much so that they are now trapped back in the subsidy debate.
“The worst case is also taking citizens for granted, which is responsible for the current foot-dragging over minimum wage negotiations.”
He called on patriotic Nigerians and democrats to resume the business of national mobilisation to produce an alternative democratic platform to the APC and all the registered political parties.
