By Mukhtar Tijjani
A coalition of support groups of the All Progressives Congress(APC) from the North West geo-political zone, Indigenous Group of APC has called for the sack of the national vice chairman (North West), Salihu Lukman, from the party’s National Working Committee (NWC).
Reason for Lukman’s removal, it said, is his incessant opposition to the zone’s interest, particularly on the issue of the senate presidency, which it said had become embarrassing and should be condemned by all.
Lukman had recently asked senators from the northern part of the country angling for the Senate presidency to step aside for their southern counterparts, saying it was unconstitutional for Muslims to aspire for the position.
But in a statement issued in Abuja yesterday, the northern APC members said it became expedient to re-echo earlier calls by other patriotic groups from the zone that the national vice chairman must go for working against the interest of his North West zone in favour of the South South and South East Zones
The statement signed by Alhaji Mustapha Yaro noted: “The group has noticed the disturbing utterances of Saliu Lukman and his incessant rablerousing that negates the interests of the North West which is unbecoming of a National Vice- Chairman (North). For a top party officer to be seen, engaging in acts inimical to the interest of a strategic portion of the North that he or she represents is not acceptable and must not be tolerated.
“It is strange that in the Presidential election, our party (APC) lost critical States like Katsina, Kano and Kaduna while also losing Zamfara and Kano in the Governorship elections and all that did not worry Lukman, the supposed National Vice-Chairman overseeing the zone, nor did the fact that the President- elect lost Kaduna state, APC lost the three Senatorial seats and several House of Representatives seats in Kaduna State, the home state of Saliu Lukman worry him.
“Rather, what worries Lukman is working against the interest of his zone in favour of South South or South East Zones,” the statement added:
“Since Salihu Lukman is more interested in the interest of a different geo-political zone than the North -west on behalf of which he sits on the National Working Committee, we hereby demand his immediate resignation or sack if he decides not to tow the path of honor”.
The group advised Lukman “to commence the process of running for the position of National Vice -Chairman South” since his interest lies with the opposition.
“Your zone that produced the highest votes for Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, the president-elect is clamouring for the zone to get the Senate Presidency while you the supposed captain of the ship is campaigning and lobbying for South South and South East. We don’t think Lukman wants the success of APC in future elections.What a shame”, the statement reiterated.
The coalition in the statement declared its decision to commence a series of protests to run for weeks for the ouster of Salihu Lukman as National Vice-Chairman (North) as it has lost confidence in his ability to protect the interest of its geo-political zone.
The coalition further restated its commitment to ensuring the North West produces the next president of the senate on grounds of performance, fairness and justice.
