Mallam Salihu Lukman, the National Vice Chairman (North-West) of the All Progressives Congress, has urged the ruling party to remove its current leadership in order to balance the Muslim-Muslim ticket of President-elect Bola Tinubu.
In a statement titled “APC Internal Dynamics and the Future of Democracy,” Lukman emphasized that the current National Chairman, Senator Abdullahi Adamu, must resign to make way for a Christian leader.
Additionally, he called for the removal of APC National Secretary, Iyiola Omisore, to appease party supporters in Osun following the disappointing outcome of results from both governorship and presidential elections in the state.
Lukman previously made an emotional appeal to Tinubu to prioritize the internal reform of the ruling party, but he is now clear on the need to balance the controversial M-M ticket of Tinubu and his running mate, Senator Kashim Shettima. He warned that the same religion ticket provided by APC for the 2023 Presidential election, if not properly managed, could widen the division among Nigerians.
Lukman suggested that the Muslim-Muslim ticket was simply an electoral strategy, and that it was important to inject a change of leadership for the party so that a new National Chairman who is a Christian can take over. He believes this will help broaden governance across all divides. He also called for the resignation of Sen. Omisore, stating that he is a divisive factor and is responsible for APC’s loss in the 2022 Governorship election in Osun State.
Lukman stated that the choice of a Muslim-Muslim ticket was a choice the ruling APC and Tinubu had to adopt as an electoral strategy, but he urged the party to demonstrate that the politics of uniting Nigerians require unconventional approaches that go beyond simple recognition of the dominant groups in Nigerian politics.