TheCable

Salihu Lukman, former vice-chair of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the north-west, says Bisi Akande and Adams Oshiomhole agree with him that the party needs to return to its founding vision.

Akande and Oshiomhole were former chairs of the ruling party.

In a statement on Thursday, Lukman said both former chairs of the APC endorsed ‘APC and Transition Politics’, a book written by him.

His stance on how the ruling party should conduct itself is articulated in the book.

The former director-general of Progressive Governors Forum (PGF) said both men were “unanimous that returning APC to its founding vision of becoming a progressive party will require consistent struggle against conservative elements both within the party and outside”.

“First I met Chief Akande on September 18 and today, September 28 met Comrade Oshiomhole,” he said.

“Both the two leaders welcome the initiative and expressed concern about recent experiences which erode the democratic space within the party,” he said.

“In particular, both leaders acknowledged the leadership role of President Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu in resisting attempts by some conservative leaders within the party to impose a consensus presidential candidate for the 2023 elections.

“While commending the initiative to document these experiences, the two leaders were unanimous that returning APC to its founding vision of becoming a progressive party will require consistent struggle against conservative elements both within the party and outside.

“It is not going to be an easy battle and would require strong commitment and capacity to stubbornly continue to campaign for restoration of democratic values within the APC.”

Lukman said the disagreements he had with Oshiomhole “defined our relationship since our time in the National Union of Textiles from the early 1990s”.

The former vice-chair said he wrote the book because there is a need for healthy debate within the party, adding that these debates would strengthen the APC.