Former national Vice chairman, North West of the All Progressives Congress, Salihu Lukman, has said former President, Muhammadu Buhari, missed the opportunity of a pan Nigerian mandate given him in 2015 to redeem the image of the Northern part of the country .

Lukman who had since resigned from the ruling party made the assertion in a statement issued at the weekend, “Explosive North: Open Letter to Northern Politicians.”

The former Director General of the Progressive Governors Forum, who likened the 2015 electoral victory of Buhari to the June 12, 1993 mandate of late Bashorun Moshood Kashimawo Abiola expressed regret that Buhari wasted eight years dividing the ethnic units in the country rather than forging national unity.

“Perhaps, the opportunity for Northern political leaders to redeem themselves and return the North back to rational order with committed leaders capable of responding to the challenges of the region was blown away during the tenure of former President Muhammadu Buhari.

“The painful reality was that no leader in the political history of Nigeria gained the kind of national acceptability former President Buhari had at the beginning of his tenure.

The closest was Chief M. K. O. Abiola whose election was annulled by the military regime of Gen. Ibrahim Babangida.

More than any Northern political leader, former President Buhari undisputedly won the votes of people from both Northern and Southern Nigeria, which could have been used to produce new crop of selfless leadership for the country.

Selfless leadership is required to put every part of Nigeria on the roadmap to national development.
“Golden eight years between 2015 and 2023 was lost. Instead, the country, especially the North became worse off with crisis of insecurity taking over everywhere. Problems of poverty, unemployment, drugs and substance abuses, etc. becoming almost peculiar characteristics of the Northern region.

Unfortunately, here we are under President Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu who got majority of the votes that won him the Presidency from the three regions in the North but seem to be only interested in taking advantage of the lack of unity among leaders in the region.

Certainly, not his fault and if he is uninterested in challenges facing the region, no one, especially Northern political leaders, should complain.”

Appraising the present administration, the ex- APC chieftain alleged that President Tinubu is taking advantage of the narrow interest of leading politicians from the North to sow discord in their rank.

The statement reads in part:”Partly, on account of lack of unity among leaders in the North, President Tinubu has marginalised the people of North-Central in the political leadership of the country.

It is quite depressing that President Asiwaju Tinubu could marginalise the people of North-Central in the manner he did without leaders in the North showing any concern.

In addition to marginalising the people of North-Central, he imposed Dr. Abdullahi Umar Ganduje from North-West as National Chairman of APC, which is the ruling party. Out of all the political leaders of North-West, he finds no one who is better qualified but Dr. Ganduje with all the baggage of corruption allegations and poor political relations with other leaders in Kano State, including the Kano State Government.

Partly, because of the poor relations between Dr. Ganduje and Kano State Government, the revered Kano Emirate Council has been plunged into avoidable crisis with no end in sight and President Asiwaju Tinubu is pretending to be uninterested.

“So far, one year has pass into President Asiwaju Tinubu administration. No doubt, Northern political leaders are becoming weaker and more disorganised.

Even the Vice President, Sen. Kashim Shettima GCON, who is the highest office holder and by virtue of that should have served as the needed rallying point for Northern politicians, is anything but a political leader.

With every respect, hardly any official of the current administration of President Asiwaju Tinubu from the North, including Sen.

Shettima, is willing and able to take the needed risk to defend the interest of the North. Painfully, what is emerging is that most leaders from the North are more concern about self-preservation in the government.

“Because of self-preservation, already scheming for 2027 has commenced. Within the Presidency there are indicative cold war dynamics and positioning, which is alleged to be responsible for the praise-singing disposition of Vice President Shettima.

The National Security Adviser (NSA), Mal. Nuhu Ribadu has devalued an exalted office almost to the status of a Protocol Office to President Asiwaju Tinubu.

Virtually all other Northern politicians holding offices in this government, including the Secretary to Government of the Federation (SGF), Sen. George Akume are absentee public servants who have been reduced to members of a choir group poorly singing ‘on your mandate we stand’ irrespective of the shaky and staggering reality being demonstrated by the mandate holder with reference to poor service delivery and crashing living conditions in the last one year.”.