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Malam Salihu Mo Lukhman, the leading strategist of the National Political Union, proposed ahead of the 2027 general election, has said he is the exile of exiles to the Social Democrats of former Kaduna Governor Nasir El Rufai.
Naija News said Lukman, former director of the Progressives Governors Forum (PGF), said that discussions with the SDP are ongoing, but that he will not join El-Rufai unless the party meets the conditions of the coalition.
Speaking to Abuja journalists on Monday, Lukman emphasized that his preferences were to a coordinated approach rather than to individual departures.
When asked about his position regarding El Rufai’s movement, Lukmann replied. At this time, they have not seen them. We have no doubt about it. If they see them tomorrow, they’re fine. ”
He acknowledged that El-Rufai’s asylum was expected, particularly following his recent Arise TV interview, which suggested a major political restructuring.
However, he believed that Elle Rufai should exercise more patience so that the Union could move together as a unified group.
“My hope was that he had to be a little patient to get out as a group based on the ongoing negotiations. But he knows well and hopes that his decision won’t be a kind of breakaway from what we’re doing. My hope is that in the end we should be able to reconcile and work together under one platform,” Lukman said.
When asked whether the coalition would adopt SDP as its official platform for the 2027 election, Lukman said the debate was ongoing.
However, he pointed out that certain democratic principles must be agreed to before the SDP accepts them.
“The challenge is whether SDP will submit itself to some of the conditions that seem to be necessary. Unlike most traditional politicians whose platforms want candidates only to present candidates and win elections, some of us believe this issue is beyond that,” said former APC Chieftain.
He emphasized that Nigeria needs a political platform that truly encourages competition, rather than simply supporting pre-selected candidates.
Lukman criticized both the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) and the All Progressives Congress (APC) for the culture of candidate imposition.
“If you remember, the problem Nigerians had with PDP was the issue of candidate levying. When the APC came and promised ‘change’, Nigerians expected us to change the culture of levying. Unfortunately, we failed at that. In fact, it’s getting worse,” he said.
According to Lukman, the APC’s internal democracy is getting worse, making it easy to predict election outcomes within the party.
“If things continue as they are, we can predict that President Ajwaj will become an APC candidate, and all first-time APC governors will appear as candidates, whether they are popular in their state or not. They can also predict all lawmakers at the federal and state level, whether they have done it or not.”
He argued that as long as the candidate remains in the “good book” of the party leadership, he would secure nominations regardless of public opinion.
“El Rufai was in an asylum too early, but I didn’t join him in the SDP.
