APC’s Reaction to Coalition Calls Confirms Party’s Derailment – Salihu Lukman

• Salihu Lukman asserts that the APC’s response to opposition coalition calls shows it has deviated from its original progressive ideals
• He criticizes the party’s failure to engage with pressing national issues, likening its current stance to past authoritarian regimes

Salihu Lukman, a former National Vice Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC) for the North-West, has claimed that the party’s response to recent calls for an opposition coalition confirms it has strayed from its founding principles.

At a two-day national conference on democracy last week, former Vice President Atiku Abubakar renewed his call for opposition leaders to unite to “save” Nigeria’s democracy.

The event featured former Ekiti State Governor Kayode Fayemi, former Rivers State Governor Rotimi Amaechi, and former Kaduna State Governor Nasir El-Rufai.

El-Rufai voiced concerns about the ruling party’s role in the struggles of opposition groups and urged them to collaborate to challenge the current government.

In response, APC spokesman Felix Morka dismissed Atiku’s claims as “laughable” and questioned his credibility. Morka also criticized Atiku, Peter Obi, and El-Rufai for suggesting that APC was behind the opposition’s internal issues.

In an article shared with Daily Trust, Lukman accused APC officials of ignoring the conference’s goals. He argued that their refusal to engage demonstrates an authoritarian shift from the party’s progressive origins, which once secured widespread support in 2015.

“The sad reality is that the APC has become contemptuous instead of engaging with these issues. This reaction further exposes the party’s authoritarian and reactionary tendencies.

“The fact that APC officials were invited but failed to attend proves that the party no longer aligns with the progressive ideals that once united Nigerians to unseat the PDP in 2015.

“As a party and government now disconnected from the people, much like the PDP was in 2015, it dismisses efforts to address national challenges,” Lukman stated.

Lukman, also a former director-general of the Progressive Governors Forum (PGF), compared APC’s hostile stance to the repressive tactics of past military regimes.

He noted that statements from government spokespersons like Bayo Onanuga and Felix Morka resemble the rhetoric of Comrade Uche Chukwumerije during the Babangida era.