From Romanus Ugwu, Abuja
Former National Vice Chairman (North-West) of the All Progressives Congress (APC) Salihu Moh Lukman has pleaded with President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and other political leaders to revisit the feud brewing between two former governors of Kano State, Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso and Abdullahi Umar Ganduje.
Lukman in a statement he issued on Tuesday in Abuja, warned that on no account should APC leaders limit the engagement of issues surrounding all the political challenges facing APC as a party to only the issue of bribery allegation against Ganduje.
He passionately pleaded with President Tinubu and APC leaders to consider it as an opportunity to renew the APC in Kano State and, by extension North West and the entire North.
“Being progressives requires honesty, which given the current political reality we must accept that Rabiu Kwankwaso and his NNPP have a stronger support base in Kano State. Noting that Kwankwaso was in our party up to 2018; and acknowledging that between 1999 and 2019 both Kwankwaso and Ganduje worked together, we need to revisit issues surrounding their disagreement.
“On no account should APC leaders limit the engagement of issues surrounding all the political challenges facing us as a party to only the issue of bribery allegation against Ganduje.
“If this means another round of negotiation for political alliance or a merger with Kwankwaso and NNPP, our leaders should proceed to act accordingly. President Tinubu and the APC must take full advantage of the current reality to renegotiate the support base of the APC. Renegotiating the support base of the APC should also be about reigniting the progressive credentials of the APC.
“It is very painfully disturbing that unless this kind of opportunity is utilised to the fullest, based on which new actors such as Kwankwaso with a strong commitment to democracy based on principles are recruited into our party, the downward slide and retrogression towards conservatism and lawless management of the APC will continue,” Lukman noted in the statement.
Commenting on the corruption allegation against the APC National Chairman, the former Director General of Progressive Governors Forum (PGF) said: “Without doubt, this situation presents an opportunity for President Tinubu to demonstrate his progressive and political dexterity.
“It is a low-hanging fruit, which, if properly managed could also save the politics of Ganduje. The hard truth is that, somehow, the politics of Kano State was mismanaged and as it is, if we were unable to win the election in Kano State when we were in control of the Kano State Government, it would be foolhardy to imagine otherwise.
“APC leaders must be reminded that one of the promises in 2015 based on which Nigerians supported us and gave us the mandate to rule the country for the last nine years was the commitment to fight corruption. If there is any instance requiring us, as a party, to renew our commitment to fighting corruption, this is it.
“We must appeal, especially, to President Tinubu and all APC leaders not to consent to any action other than supporting Ganduje to take advantage of the current reality to clear his name,” the statement read.
He equally called on the President to correct the imbalance, describing it as unfortunate. “Perhaps, we need to also appeal to President Asiwaju Tinubu to also use this as an opportunity to correct the political imbalance in the leadership of the country by returning the North Central into the mainstream leadership of the country.
“It was quite unfortunate that the imbalance was allowed to happen. Certainly, the objective couldn’t have been to marginalise the people of North Central from the political leadership of Nigeria. I am confident that President Tinubu and APC leaders will do the needful to renew APC and return APC to its founding vision of progressive politics,” Lukman noted.