Lukman to ADC: Don’t let godfathers hijack the party before 2027

Salihu Lukman, former national vice chairman (north-west) of the All Progressives Congress (APC), has warned the David Mark-led leadership of the African Democratic Congress (ADC) against godfatherism and internal manipulation ahead of the 2027 general election.

Lukman, a leading figure in the coalition that birthed the new ADC, said some party actors are already behaving like victory is guaranteed, promoting loyalists as though the race is over.

In a statement titled “ADC and the Prospect of Internal Democracy,” released Tuesday in Abuja, he cautioned against early signs of elite capture and imposition.

“When the national leadership positions of ADC were shared to zones, coalition leaders, who were only nominees into the committee that negotiated the sharing arrangement, promoted themselves into becoming leaders of their zones,” he said.

While acknowledging the role Senator David Mark played in reaching consensus on party leadership, he noted that the negative aspects of almost all our opposition political leaders are already at play.

“Many are taking steps to manipulate the process of leadership reformation of the ADC. Loyalists are being promoted in a manner that suggests perhaps the 2027 elections are already won,” he said.

“We must caution our leaders; Nigerians will not be deceived by any cosmetic design of presenting another party, which is only a duplication of our old parties.”

He added that without checks, coalition leaders may soon turn into godfathers who impose candidates from the top down.

“With the way things are going, coalition leaders will emerge as godfathers, and the next thing is that they will impose their surrogates at all levels as leaders of the ADC,” he said.

“This will naturally be followed by anointing preferred candidates for the 2027 elections. Therefore, the first test of Mark’s leadership of the party is the extent to which he can mitigate all these and ensure that ADC is not a party that will be controlled by godfathers.”

‘LUKMAN: NIGERIANS ARE WATCHING ADC’

Lukman, who also served as director-general of the Progressive Governors Forum (PGF), said Nigerians are watching to see if ADC will simply repeat APC’s failings or chart a new course.

“With the painful experience under APC, whereby, ahead of the 2015 elections, APC presented a delightful manifesto with all the promises but ended up disregarding it once elections were won, what will be different with ADC?,’ he said.

“When we negotiated with the former leadership of ADC under Chief Ralph Nwosu, one of the agreements we reached is to have a new manifesto. What steps will be taken by Mark’s leadership to produce a new ADC manifesto?” he asked.

He stressed that the goal should go beyond winning elections. According to him, the coalition must remain engaged with the leadership even if not all actors are in formal positions.

“For those of us who spearheaded the process of negotiating the coalition and producing ADC as the party for the envisioned internally democratic party, whether we are part of the national leadership or not, we must remain united within the coalition to continue engaging Mark’s leadership to ensure they succeed,” he said.

“If, for any reason, we allow them to fail, we have equally failed.”

He warned that in many states, godfatherism is already creeping in, with some former governors turning local leaders into political lackeys.

“Many high-profile political leaders, especially former governors, are taking steps to serve as godfathers in ADC, and leaders at these levels are reduced to acting as members of the cabinet or members of the board of a parastatal of the government, in which powerful politicians and former governors are the chief executive officers,” he said.

“Although faced with lots of disadvantages, those of us who suffer the disadvantage of not being godsons of these high-profile politicians must take every necessary step to win the confidence of citizens at that level.

“Coming from Kaduna State, we must take every necessary step to discontinue the political culture of divisive politics of religion and ethnicity.

“Any political leader who is associated with past divisive politics in the State must commit to reforming himself as basis for working with us in the effort to reform the ADC and make it a party that promotes a new united Kaduna State.”

Despite the challenges, Lukman said he remains hopeful. He, however, advises that Senator Mark and the party leadership must rise to their calling and provide the party and Nigerians with a new template for effective political party management in the country.