As the nation inches closer to the 2027 general elections, a prominent pro-democracy advocate, Alhaji Salihu Mohammed Lukman, has warned the leadership of the African Democratic Congress (ADC) against surrendering the party and its structures to greedy godfathers, who would alter the democratic ideals and aspirations of the party founders for their own selfish ends.
Lukman, in a statement on Tuesday titled, “ADC and the Prospects of Internal Democracy,” expressed deep concern over what he called the pressures on ADC to capitulate and the danger that befell major parties such as the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and also the All Progressives Congress (APC) might be waiting for the ADC except immediate steps are taken to strengthen its internal democratic processes.
While openly condemning the culture of imposition of candidates, the absence of internal negotiations and lobbying of members, which has become the bane of political parties in Nigeria, Lukman said: “The major problem in the nation’s politics today is the culture of imposition of candidates that is widespread across all the registered political parties in the country.
It is largely responsible for the absence of internal democracy within all the parties.”
The politician expressed regrets over the inability of prominent figures in the opposition block to unite, stating that many leaders initially showed unwillingness and resisted the invitation to attend coalition meetings, while some even accused the initiators of such meetings as being agents sponsored by presidential aspirants.
He urged the ADC leaders to be careful and refuse to yield the party to those who would exert too much control over the members, adding that “the negative side of almost all our opposition political leaders is already at play, with some manipulating the leadership reform process and promoting loyalists for selfish purposes.
“Loyalists are being promoted in a manner that suggests perhaps that the 2027 general elections are already won and the intellectual capacity, integrity, performance track records, name recognition across all demographics, respect in community and political circles, independent mindedness and general acceptability go against such principles,” he said.
Lukman specifically pointed to instances where coalition leaders, nominated to negotiate with zonal leadership contacts and positions, have promoted themselves as leaders of their zones, stating that this has led to secret and controlled zonal meetings that favoured certain individuals.
He warned that “At the rate things are playing out, the ADC is being set up to become another variant of our old political parties.”
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