According to the report from the Sun News, Salihu Lukman, former National Vice Chairman for the North-West of the All Progressives Congress (APC), has made serious allegations against Nigerian elected leaders, comparing their actions to those of Yahoo-Yahoo fraudsters in their alleged diversion of public resources and assets for private gain.
Lukman also suggested a high possibility that President Bola Tinubu might appoint a weakening figure as the new chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to facilitate his complete control of the commission.
In a statement issued in Abuja, Lukman criticized President Tinubu's administration over the past year, stating, "there is a high chance he would destroy the relative advantages of the economy of the South-West region, almost the way former president Muhammadu Buhari left the northern region worse off after his eight-year tenure."
He expressed concern over the decline in the value of incomes under Tinubu's leadership and argued that the failings of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in 2015 are now less severe compared to the current state of the APC. Lukman remarked, "APC has succeeded in turning Nigeria's democracy on its head."
The former Director General of the APC Progressive Governors’ Forum (PGF) also criticized the reduction of the National Assembly to an extension of the presidency, particularly targeting the Senate President.
He stated, "the Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, is turning out to be an uncommon embarrassment to Nigerians, shamelessly desecrating the institution of the Senate and his colleagues."
Lukman believes that overcoming the current challenges will require strong collaboration among opposition political parties to consolidate their efforts to wrest power from the APC. However, he lamented the lack of such unity in contemporary Nigerian politics.
He said, "Unfortunately, given the advanced stage of state capture at the federal level, most political leaders, including the leading opposition leaders, like Atiku Abubakar, Peter Obi, and Rabiu Kwankwaso, are all operating in isolation from one another."
Lukman also pointed out that prominent APC leaders such as former Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, Rotimi Amaechi, Kayode Fayemi, Ibikunle Amosun, Nasir El-Rufai, and Rauf Aregbesola have been marginalized in Tinubu's government, reducing their influence in Nigerian politics.
He observed, "Although there are some indicative political activities taking place around some of these political leaders, it has not graduated to the level of commitment to build the kind of strong political parties capable of threatening the APC and President Tinubu, which is needed to guarantee the future of Nigerian democracy."