Former All Progressives Congress (APC) National Vice Chairman (North West), Salihu Lukman, has said that the opposition coalition under the African Democratic Congress (ADC) lacks a towering political figure comparable to the late President Muhammadu Buhari.
Speaking during an interview on Arise Television on Wednesday, Lukman stressed that without a unifying figure like Buhari, opposition leaders must adopt humility and foster genuine teamwork if they hope to challenge the ruling APC in the 2027 general elections.
“We don’t have anybody with the kind of intimidating profile that the late Buhari had,” Lukman noted. “This means all leaders of the coalition must be humble, recognise the need for one another, and build strong team spirit. That’s the major challenge before us.”
He said the political era when a candidate’s victory could be secured by a single endorsement — notably Buhari’s — had ended with the former president’s passing. Even before his death, Lukman observed, Buhari’s political influence had begun to wane.
“Many politicians, especially in the North, used to rely on Buhari to raise their hands in endorsement. That alone could guarantee electoral victory in many areas. But that era is over,” he said during a separate interview on Channels Television.
Lukman criticised the reliance on endorsements over genuine grassroots engagement, saying it made many politicians complacent and disconnected from voters.
“Now that Buhari is gone, politicians must return to the basics — engaging citizens, keeping campaign promises, and forging sincere relationships with the electorate,” he said. “It’s no longer about being in someone’s good books. It's about delivering results and building trust.”
He insisted that the opposition’s goal should not be merely to defeat President Bola Tinubu and the APC, but to offer Nigerians a new, credible political model that reflects their hopes and expectations.
“We must aim to build a strong political party, one that represents a fresh start and a genuine departure from the old order,” he added.
Describing Buhari as one of the most influential politicians in contemporary Nigerian history, Lukman noted that his popularity, especially in the North, played a key role in the successful merger that birthed the APC in 2013–2014.
“His legacy was pivotal to that political movement. But now, we must chart a new course without such a unifying figure,” he concluded.
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