Salihu Lukman, a chieftain of the African Democratic Congress (ADC) and former National Vice Chairman (North-West) of the All Progressives Congress (APC), has accused President Bola Ahmed Tinubu of empowering governors who mismanage public funds, instead of holding them accountable.
Speaking on Channels Television’s Sunrise Daily programme on Friday, Lukman condemned what he described as the President’s tendency to "reward failure" by turning a blind eye to the misuse of hefty federal allocations by state governors. He said Tinubu's government continues to approve large sums for sub-national governments, even when there's clear evidence that many governors divert public resources for personal or political use.
Lukman's comments come amid rising public outrage over soaring inflation, widespread hunger, and economic hardship triggered by the federal government’s twin policies of petrol subsidy removal and forex unification.
Just this week, the U.S. Embassy in Nigeria released a report spotlighting how several governors have splurged billions on luxury renovations of government houses—despite the country’s worsening cost-of-living crisis. The embassy noted that this “lack of fiscal responsibility fuels inequality and erodes public trust.”
Although President Tinubu, on Thursday, urged state governors to invest more in poverty alleviation and deliver the dividends of democracy to Nigerians, Lukman argued that the President’s actions do not match his words.
“Yes, the President has said the right thing, but what is he doing to ensure that governors do what they need to do?” Lukman asked. “What I see him doing is rewarding them for doing the wrong things.”
He further criticized the 36 governors—23 of whom are from the APC—for being arrogant and unaccountable, blaming the rot on how party structures are subordinated to the whims of governors.
“Once we have a system where the structure of the party is subordinated to them, they will continue with this arrogance, and continue to be unaccountable and convert public resources as if it is their personal property,” he said.
Lukman also decried the Tinubu administration’s focus on poaching opposition governors rather than strengthening internal democracy and accountability. He cited the recent defections of Delta State Governor Sheriff Oborevwori and Akwa Ibom’s Umo Eno from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to the APC, accusing the ruling party of welcoming them without reforms or accountability demands.
“When your recruitment policy is such that you welcome everyone blindly without holding them to performance standards, then the goal is not service delivery but power for its own sake,” he added.
On his former party, Lukman minced no words: “In APC, we invested every trust in the leaders, and at the end of the day, they betrayed that trust. That is why APC is damaged today—worse than the PDP.”
He expressed hope that the ADC coalition would do better by making its leaders accountable to the people and party structures, should it produce Nigeria’s next president in 2027.
“Our goal is to build a party where leadership is not left unchecked. If we produce the President, ministers and governors, they must deliver services in line with the party’s manifesto and electoral promises,” Lukman said.
