2027: Atiku, Obi, Kwankwaso Asked To Unite, Rescue Nigeria From APC

Ahead of the 2027 presiden­tial election, former Vice President Atiku Abubakar; the presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP), Peter Obi; former Vice President Yemi Osinbajo; former governors of Kano and Kaduna states, Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso and Na­sir El-Rufai have been chal­lenged to unite to rescue the country from the All Pro­gressives Congress (APC) and President Bola Tinubu.

The immediate-past National Vice Chairman of APC, Salihu Moh. Luk­man, who gave this charge, warned that if APC and President Tinubu are to have any considerable elec­toral strength in 2027, it will be on account of the current division, which character­ises Nigerian politics and makes it impossible for any form of cooperation by po­litical leaders.

Lukman also called on former Governors Rotimi Ameachi, Rauf Aregbesola, Kayode Fayemi and Ibikun­le Amosun, among other political leaders, to team up in order to defeat the ruling party.

Lukman, in a statement on Sunday in Abuja, titled, ‘Future of Democracy in Nigeria,’ said that politi­cal leaders must recognise that rescuing Nigeria from its current slippery slope is about teamwork and partnership, adding that building the kind of united front capable of moving Ni­gerian democracy forward requires selflessness on the part of Nigerian political leaders.

The former Director General of the Progressives Governors’ Forum (PGF) noted that the APC has le­gitimised higher level of corruption in the country and also legitimising the phenomenon of ‘state cap­ture’ virtually at all levels, against its promise to pro­vide the needed leadership to fight corruption.

Lukman, who noted the way the failure of APC has widened the country’s fault lines, said that the way the people of the South-East rejected the APC since 2015 must be redressed, adding that any new united politi­cal front should gain some measure of high acceptabil­ity in virtually all parts of the country.

He said: “The require­ment for high acceptability from all sections of the coun­try should humble all polit­ical leaders in the country, especially Alh. Atiku Abu­bakar and Mr. Peter Obi not to exploit the need for such a united front by imposing their presidential ambitions. In the same vein, other APC leaders such as Prof. Osin­bajo, Chief Amaechi, Dr. Fayemi, Mal. El-Rufai, Sen. Amosu, etc. (APC political orphans) who in one way or the other have ambitions to become Nigeria’s president must bury such ambitions, at least not during the ne­gotiation to form the united political front.

“We must appeal to all political leaders in Nigeria, across all the political par­ties in the country to com­mit themselves in forging a new atmosphere of political unity in the country based on selfless disposition, for­giving the misgiving of the past and national reconcil­iation.

“If APC and President Asi­waju Tinubu are to have any considerable electoral strength in 2027 it will be on account of the current division, which characterises Nigerian politics and make it impossible for any form of cooperation by political leaders.”