2023: Lukman, Ex-PGF DG, Drums Support for 2022 Committee

Adedayo Akinwale in Abuja

A former Director General of the Progressive Governors Forum (PGF), Dr. Salihu Lukman, has called on all patriotic Nigerians to support “The 2022 Committee” working to ensure the emergence of credible leaders in the 2023 general election.

Lukman, a chieftain of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), said the emergence of the ‘association’ presented an opportunity to critically assess the capacity of political parties to serve as effective and competent negotiating platforms for the emergence of ‘quality leadership’ in Nigeria.

The 2022 Committee, an association of eminent businessmen, political, media and civil society leaders, including 14 current governors, 13 former governors as well as three former Senate Presidents, is an initiative of the Chairman, THISDAY and ARISE Groups, Prince Nduka Obaigbena.

However, Lukman, in a statement yesterday, stressed that a situation whereby politicians reduced issues of national development targets to partisan rivalries must be discouraged.
He noted that the absence of a level playing field in political parties was discouraging quality individuals from presenting themselves for consideration.

Lukman noted, that was partly responsible for why every part of the country, and in virtually all the political parties, the most qualified candidates for ‘quality leadership’ were hardly in the race for contests.

“The capacity of our parties to produce the kind of leadership Nigerians aspire is weak. Left alone, individuals with strong financial muscles, whose vision may be narrow, hardly going beyond access to public resources would have an advantage.

“Every patriotic Nigerian should commend the initiatives of the association. In addition, Nigerians should encourage members of the association to do everything possible to force internal negotiations, which should lead to agreements within political parties leading to the emergence of quality leadership in 2023 at all levels in Nigeria.

A stitch in time saves nine!
“Therefore, the new political value potentially being created by a group such as the association is the possibility of opening the political spaces in the country, including within the current big parties (APC and Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to produce higher quality leaders that what would have ordinarily been the case in 2023.

“It will require some superior organising to produce such a higher quality desired different outcome, which is why such an initiative requires the support of all patriotic Nigerians,” he said.