The ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) has taken a dig at its former National Vice Chairman (North West), Salihu Lukman for claiming the party’s nine years in power have been worse than the Peoples Democratic Party’s (PDP) 16-year reign.

Recall that Lukman, a couple of days ago, criticised both former President Muhammadu Buhari and President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, and accused them of failure to meet the expectations of Nigerians and deliver on their promises.

In a statement titled “Building Nigerian Democracy,” Lukman lamented the state of governance under the APC. He also asserted that the party had failed to address critical issues facing the country, including insecurity, economic hardship, and corruption.

He suggested that the APC had not lived up to the expectations it set when it removed the PDP in 2015, a move that ended the latter’s 16-year dominance.

Lukman also expressed frustration with the disunity among opposition leaders, which he said was giving President Tinubu the freedom to run the country unchallenged. He argued that opposition leaders had failed to unite to offer a credible alternative to the APC ahead of the 2027 elections, instead prioritising their personal political ambitions.

“We have become worse than the PDP we defeated in 2015,” Lukman stated.

In a reaction to Lukman’s outburst, the APC in a strongly-worded statement issued by its National Publicity Secretary, Felix Morka on Tuesday evening, described him as the “chief discordant trumpeter for a cacophonous political opposition.”

Morka said Lukman’s hunger for attention is insatiable, adding that not even his “frenzied political soliloquy in self-adulation has proved sufficient to fill his bottomless obsession for attention. Since his exit as a National Vice Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Lukman has been sleepless in search of political relevance.”

The statement reads, “In his new self-assigned role, he alleges, without substantiation, that APC “ruined the country in economic policies and corruption” and called on opposition parties and Nigerians to vote out APC in 2027. Such an empty and outlandish allegation is undeserving of any response especially coming from a displaced political gaslighter.

“One day, Lukman claims to be a progressive committed to fixing the People Democratic Party’s (PDP) 16 years of rot, another day, he proclaims abiding faith in the capacity of the PDP and decadent political opposition to save Nigeria. Lacking conviction, or staying power to justify any cause, Lukman is not in any position to advise Nigerians on how to vote or who to vote for.

“Lukman’s history is one of opportunistic politicking, consistently prioritizing his personal ego and interests over the interest of any and all institutions he has ever served. With a highly solipsistic disposition, Lukman is always right, never wrong, wallowing in his bubble of self importance while deprecating group and national interests. His latest call for opposition leaders to unite against the APC is a calculated move to cobble political relevance, divert attention from the administration’s substantial progress, and further his own selfish agenda. Lukman is simply a cantankerous political rodomont.

“It is ludicrous to tout opposition PDP and Labour Party (LP) that cannot even manage their own internal affairs as capable of offering responsible and visionary leadership to Nigeria. The same opposition parties that Lukman devoted a good number of years lampooning as inept, chronically corrupt, unpatriotic and destructive to our democracy. It takes an overdose of blinding self interest to vacillate between extremes without reason or rationality. In all of his painfully verbose Sisyphean letters to the Greek gods, Lukman has not explained to Nigerians why he believes as he believes in the failed opposition parties.

“The APC-led administration of President Bola Tinubu is taking bold measures to reset our country’s long broken economy, improve national security and restore the country to wholesome and sustainable development. No doubt, these inevitable reforms have increased economic hardship for our people.  In fact, the unwillingness of previous administrations to undertake these reforms and tackle the problems at their roots is the reason the economy has remained  in the doldrums for a long time.

“It would be easy and painless for President Tinubu to do as his predecessors have done, continue business as usual, kick the can down the road for future administrations to deal with while the rot and stagnation fester. But in keeping with the renewed hope agenda of his administration, he has chosen to tackle the country’s generational economic problems for the good of present and future generations of Nigerians. In the fullness of time, this President shall be vindicated for his vision and unwavering commitment to the national interest and the common good of all.”

The party called on Nigerians to remain focused and undistracted by the opposition’s “pettiness and disinformation, and to continue to support President Tinubu in his commitment to building greater progress and a more vibrant future for our country.”