Former North West Vice Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and now a chieftain of the African Democratic Congress (ADC) in Kaduna State, Salihu Lukman, has said the African Democratic Congress (ADC) cannot defeat the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) in Kaduna the way the coalition party is currently being run.
He, therefore, pleaded with the likes of Malam Nasir El-Rufa’i, Ja’afaru Sani, Bashir Sa’idu and others to retrace their steps and unite.
In a statement he personally signed and issued to newsmen in Kaduna to mark the 65th anniversary of the country’s independence, the ADC chieftain noted that the ADC in the state is only building a party whose business is limited to producing candidates.
‘Instead of working to build the party, we are setting ourselves to produce a party whose business will be limited to presenting candidates for elections.
‘People with ambition to contest elections have become restless and want to dominate the process of developing the structures of the party to the exclusion of their opponents.
‘The madness of controlling structures of ADC is the biggest threat before us. For whatever reason, those of us who want the ADC to be an equal opportunity party are being condemned.
‘Sadly, some of our leaders, instead of providing fair leadership, are taking sides with strengthening aspiring candidates for the 2027 elections across the state to the exclusion of others.
‘I want to use the opportunity of this independence anniversary to appeal to all of us to stop this madness of trying to take over the structures of ADC and control it to the exclusion of so-called opponents.
‘If ADC is to emerge as a strong party capable of defeating the APC in Kaduna State, we must agree to work together. Anybody who is not ready to work as part of a united opposition in Kaduna State is consciously or unconsciously working for the APC.
‘I am making this strong appeal with a very deep feeling of disappointment that we are recklessly mismanaging an opportunity to provide the needed leadership to our people.
‘In particular, I want to appeal to Mal. Nasir El-Rufai, Mal. Ja’afaru Sani and Alh. Bashir Sa’idu, as the opposition leader in Kaduna State, to please stop encouraging the madness of aspiring candidates seeking to take over the structures of ADC to the exclusion of so-called opponents.
‘At individual level, I have tried to talk to those I can talk to. Unfortunately, I must also admit that I have failed in many respects. The fact that we have Sen. Musa Bello aggressively seeking to control the structures of ADC in Zone 2 is a reflection of my failure. Largely because I am, in recent times, associated with Sen. Musa Bello, Sen. Lawal Adamu (Mr La) has avoided all my requests to meet him.
‘I have met Mal. Ja’afaru Sani on this matter. We have had some discussions with Mal. Nasir. Sincerely, I am saddened by the fact that we are not united, and the perception is that I am part of the problem.
‘As a citizen from Kaduna State, I am willing to make every necessary sacrifice to move our state forward. I have no ambition to contest the election. Without sounding immodest, I made every sacrifice to contribute to forming the coalition and negotiating the agreement with ADC.
‘May I therefore appeal to Mal. Nasir and all our leaders to please seek to unite all of us. It is only if we are united in ADC that we will be able to unite our people in the state to defeat the APC in 2027.
‘We must bear in mind, it is not just about defeating APC but more about producing a government controlled by our party (ADC) based on collective leadership.
‘We need to put an end to the era when we produce emperors as Governors. Anything short of producing a government managed by collective leadership under ADC will be unacceptable.’