APC Convention: Aspirants Accuse Lukman of Working for PDP to Undermine Party

Adedayo Akinwale in Abuja

The Forum of All Progressive Congress (APC) Aspirants for 2022 National Convention has called on President Muhammadu Buhari to investigate the former Director General of Progressive Governors’ Forum (PGF), Dr. Salihu Lukman for allegedly being funded by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to undermine the party.

Lukman had, in a letter to the President on Tuesday accused the Caretaker/Extraordinary Convention Planning Committee (CECPC) of planning to sabotage the scheduled February 26 convention of APC.

However, in another letter signed by a leading aspirant for the position of National Youth Leader, Mr. Maxwell Yakubu Gowon, on behalf of other aspirants and addressed to the President, said the Buni-led convention committee had not done anything to suggest that the aspirants would lose confidence in the process.

The group said: “We would have urged Your Excellency, in your capacity as the leader of our great party, to order an investigation of the disgraced former Director General of the Progressive PGF, Salihu Lukman to find out the extent to which he is complicit in the allegation that he is being funded by the opposition PDP to undermine the APC.

“But we came to the realisation that this would be playing into the plot to distract the APC at the highest level, which is not needed at this point. The designation of “Freelance APC Campaigner” he assigned to himself is enough proof that he has already been expelled from the party since the concept of freelance campaigner is alien to the party.”

The group noted that there was documentary evidence in the media about how Lukman hounded the APC, its leadership, CECPC members for failing to align with the questionable position he was allegedly championing for certain State Governors that are eager to hijack the party structure for their 2023 ambitions.

It added that the inordinate ambitions of these governors run contrary to the legacy of humility that Buhari has demonstrated in his brand of leadership.

It said: “For these people to achieve their aim, they will necessarily violate or contravene Mr. President’s directive of allowing due process to prevail and for the right thing to always be done.”

The forum stressed that it finds it ridiculous that the Caretaker Committee, which under the leadership of Buni, worked tirelessly to resolve some of the crisis in the party, was maligned by Lukman.

It, therefore, called on the President to pass a vote of confidence in the Caretaker Committee ability to organise the national convention that will usher in a new dawn for the APC.

It added that this expression of confidence in the committee would reassure party stakeholders that APC is a party of rule of law and internal democracy.