A former National Vice Chairman (Northwest) of the All Progressives Congress, Salihu Lukman, has written an open letter to former President Olusegun Obasanjo, urging him to unite with other past leaders to rally opposition parties and form a new political platform capable of challenging President Bola Tinubu and the ruling APC in the 2027 general election.
Lukman’s letter was prompted by Obasanjo’s recent comments in a December 8 interview, where the former president stated that “a leader made by Satan is bound to fail, while God’s chosen one will thrive.”
Citing Obasanjo’s statement, Lukman emphasised the need for collective action among Nigeria’s past leaders, including Generals Yakubu Gowon, Muhammadu Buhari, Ibrahim Babangida, Abdulsalami Abubakar, and former President Goodluck Jonathan, to produce what he termed “Godly leaders.”
In his letter, Lukman wrote, “Everything must be done to put Nigeria on the roadmap of producing Godly leaders. Leaders such as Your Excellency, together with Gen. Gowon, Gen. Babangida, Gen. Abdulsalami, former President Jonathan and former President Buhari have the huge moral obligation of engaging all opposition political leaders in the country to unite in order to produce a functional political party that can serve as the harbinger for the emergence of Godly leaders in the country.”
He continued, “It is not enough to lament about the fact of Satanic leadership in the country. So long as Your Excellency and other past leaders fail to assert their moral authority in ways that can lead to the emergence of Godly leaders, it is as good as working for the second term of President Tinubu and his team of failed leaders at all levels with all the problems they created. Of course, it simply means preference for Satanic leaders.”
Lukman criticised the current state of Nigeria’s political landscape, arguing that it has been reduced to “an assemblage of cheerleaders.” He warned that without a united opposition, the country would continue to produce “leaders with satanic genotypes.”
“With such makeup, acts of impunity will continue to drive politics and even if we produce new parties with different names, such parties will at best be PDP and APC cloned. That is exactly what destroyed APC with all the potentials it had in 2015. How can we as a nation change that? Is there any prospect that within the shortest time possible the process of political re-engineering to produce a functional party that can be activated to serve as the harbinger for the emergence of leaders with Godly genotype?”
He added, “Your Excellency, this is the crux of this open letter. I believe that within the shortest time possible the process of producing a functional political party, which can be the harbinger for the emergence of leaders with Godly genotype is possible.”
Lukman noted that efforts to form such a political platform are already underway but cautioned that several “risk factors” could undermine the process. He claimed that some opposition leaders, driven by personal ambitions, were resisting efforts to unite under a single political platform.
“Already, some opposition leaders are resisting efforts to form a united political platform largely because of their subsidiary ambitions to contest elections. On account of such subsidiary ambitions, some are already playing the old hegemonic games of assembling loyalists or cheerleaders. Three of them are former state governors.”
He also accused certain groups and individuals of attempting to manipulate the opposition’s unity for personal gain.
“There is also a group associated with one of the legacy parties that merged to form the APC. This group is already drawing so-called leadership lineup for an imaginary party to be formed by opposition leaders. In many states, they have already chosen so-called governorship candidates. With such outlook, it logically means they already have their presidential candidate.”
Lukman expressed concern over the involvement of regional and ethnic politics, alleging that some individuals were forming “so-called regional ‘democratic’ bodies” to advance narrow agendas.
He further alleged that a “reputable Nigerian associated with one of the global financial institutions” was financing one of these regional bodies, warning that such actions could lead to the emergence of “another assembly of Satanic leaders” in 2027.
In his assessment, Lukman said the division within the opposition was a key factor in APC’s victory during the 2023 elections.
“I was privileged to be in the leadership of APC during the 2023 elections and I can say without fear of contradictions that APC won the 2023 elections on account of the division within the opposition. Although I have withdrawn my membership of APC, I can say authoritatively that the current mindset of President Tinubu and APC is to keep the opposition divided as basis for winning the 2027 elections.”
He concluded by warning that any opposition leader who refuses to work towards a united platform is inadvertently aiding APC’s return to power.
“I will emphatically therefore make the point that any political leader in disagreement with the current sad reality or what Your Excellency correctly described as Nigeria having leaders made by Satan who refused to work with other opposition leaders, such a leader is inadvertently working for the electoral victory of APC and President Asiwaju in 2027.”
Lukman also criticised opposition leaders for their recklessness, accusing them of prioritising personal ambitions over the country’s future.
“Many of those inadvertently working for the electoral victory of APC and Asiwaju in 2027 have little or nothing to lose. If anything, these are people whose elasticity for survival is very high, their capacity to make personal adjustments to any situation they are confronted is limitless. They can continue to mismanage politics of the country, and by extension governance on accounts of narrow personal ambitions even if the country is to be destroyed,” he declared.
