The Presidency and Kaduna State chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) yesterday waved off the defection of Nasir El-Rufai to the Social Democratic Party (SDP).
Although the Presidency and APC admitted that El-Rufai had a constitutional right to do so, they predicted that the former Kaduna State governor would fail in his decision to join forces bent on defeating President Bola Ahmed Tinubu in 2027.
Also yesterday, Senator Shehu Sani said El-Rufai will have no political relevance in Kaduna State in 2027.
He added that his exit from the APC would strengthened the party because the people he chased away from the party have returned and working with Governor Uba Sani.
Presidential spokesman Daniel Bwala: “It (defection ) is simply an inordinate ambition that is destined to fail.”
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President’s Special Adviser on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, said it was no surprise that El-Rufai ‘’is going about everywhere to campaign against the President’’ because he was not made a minister.
The Kaduna chapter of the APC said it would not lose sleep over the defection of El-Rufai who served as governor between 2015 and 2023 on the party’s platform.
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The former governor yesterday announced his decision to leave the ruling party for the SDP via a post on his verified Facebook page.
In the post titled “Nigeria Update: Onwards to the future,” he accused APC’s current leadership of deviating from its founding principles and disregarding internal democratic processes.
The former governor cited a growing misalignment between his values and the current direction of the ruling party as the primary reason for his decision.
“The developments in the last two years confirm that there is no desire on the part of those who currently control and run the APC to acknowledge, much less address, the unhealthy situation of the party,” El-Rufai said.
He added that he had privately and publicly raised concerns about what he described as the party’s “capricious trajectory.”
A part of his post reads: “As a founding member of the All Progressives Congress (APC), I have fond memories of working with other compatriots to negotiate the merger of political parties that created the APC. Since 2013,
‘’I have hoped that my values and those of the APC will continue to align until I choose to retire from politics.
“Today, 10th March 2025, I have submitted a letter resigning my membership of the APC to my ward in Kaduna, effective immediately.
‘’Before this step, I had concluded consultations with my mentors, colleagues and loyalists across the country about the future.
‘’I have now decided to join the Social Democratic Party (SDP) and adopt it as the platform for our future political engagements and activities.
“Without prejudice to this decision, as a member of the SDP, I will focus on engaging with and persuading other opposition leaders and parties to join us and congregate under a unified democratic platform to challenge the APC in all elections and bye-elections between now and 2027 by the Grace of God.
‘’I, therefore, call on all our supporters and other persons concerned about our country’s future to join us in the SDP in the journey towards making Nigeria flourish as a beacon of pride for Africans and the black race.’’
But Bwala said El-Rufai’s defection was driven by personal ambition rather than political ideology.
In a post on his verified X handle, @DanielBwala, the presidential spokesman said the former governor’s motives would be scrutinised in no distant time.
He criticised El-Rufai’s association with opposition forces, asserting that working with those seeking to unseat the incumbent government does not constitute a political ideology or progressivism.
Bwalla wrote: “Senior, @elrufai. I read the news today(yesterday) that you resigned from APC to join SDP. Well, I have nothing against you because you exercised your constitutional right.
“However, the motive is what we would interrogate in the coming days and remind Nigerians that you are not a phenomenon that emerges like a clap of thunder out of a blue sky.
“We would intellectually remind you that associating with sore losers to unseat the incumbent is not an ideology, neither is it progressivism; It is simply an inordinate ambition, that is destined to fail.”
Onanuga said on a breakfast programme on television that the former governor became critical of the Tinubu administration and the APC because he was not made a minister.
He said even though El-Rufai worked hard for Tinubu’s emergence as president, it was time for him to move on from the disappointment of not being a member of the Federal Executive Council (FEC).
The presidential spokesman added: “I will pity former Kaduna State Governor Mallam Nasir El-Rufai, he feels hurt that he was not made a minister, but I think it’s time for him to move on,” Onanuga said.
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“You cannot continue to behave like a child as if someone stole his bread and things like that and then you are crying over spilt milk.”
While acknowledging that it was not out of place for El-Rufai to feel aggrieved having worked hard for the election of Tinubu, Onanuga said that the President was not in denial of his efforts.
“It is natural for him to feel bad that he has been excluded. I think the president has acknowledged in a recent tribute to him that Nasir did a lot in installing President Tinubu, and if he is not there it doesn’t mean he will bring down the roof,” he advised.
Onanuga urged El-Rufai to let go because he has been in public service since 1999, saying that “it’s time for him to move on.
Secretary of the Kaduna APC Yahaya Baba-Pate dismissed El-Rufai’s move.
He said that APC remained unperturbed by his defection.
He said: “We are unperturbed by former governor Nasir El-Rufai’s defection to another party.
‘’Our main focus in Kaduna is on how to deliver the state to both President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and Governor Uba Sani in 2027.’’
Baba-Pate told reporters in Kaduna that APC was growing from strength to strength in the state.
“The APC in Kaduna State is growing day by day, judging from the calibre of politicians streaming into the party daily. So, we are not disturbed by anybody defecting to another party.
“We are not disturbed and we are not going to lose our sleep over El-Rufai’s moves. The party in the state is growing more than before,” he said.
* Shehu Sani: El-Rufai will have no political relevance in 2027
Senator Sani said the political relevance and fortune of the former governor will eclipse with his defection.
“ Leaving APC for SDP wouldn’t make any difference for someone with no political relevance again. One thing is sure, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and Governor Uba Sani will be voted again in 2027,’’ Senator Sani said.
Adebayo welcomes El-Rufai
Leader of the SDP Prince Adewole Adebayo, has welcomed El-Rufai, to the party.
Adebayo noted that with an avid worker like El-Rufai joining the party, it was time to liberate Nigerians from the shackles of poverty.
Writing in his official X handle, @Pres_Adebayo, he said: “On behalf of the teeming members of the SDP and patriotic democrats, who believe in Nigeria and her promise of inevitable greatness, I heartily welcome my dear brother El-Rufai to our party.
“With the hardworking and sagacious Mallam joining our ranks, an avid worker for the people has been enlisted in our forces against poverty and insecurity.
He emphasised that all genuine democrats and true nationalists, who believe in order, decency and honesty were welcomed to the SDP “where we are governed by law, not men, constitution not constipation of money or personal ambition.
“Together, following the law, the constitution and the manifesto of our party, we can set a good example of clean and ethical politics to emulate and rally Nigeria to the forefront of the liberation of Africa and peoples of the Black World.
“Good politics begets good governance. Let no one sit on the fence any further. There is no time to waste. Join us on the March again. God bless Nigeria.”
Ex-governor’s action hasty, says Lukman
A political ally of El-Rufai and former National Working Committee (NWC) of APC, Salihu Lukman, faulted the former governor’s defection, saying it was hasty.
Lukman expressed worry that the move by El-Rufai might affect the ongoing negotiations for a coalition of political forces ahead of 2027.
He said: “He (El-Rufai) knows better and I do hope his decision is not going to become like a kind of break away from whatever we are doing.
‘’I hope that at the end, we should be able to reconcile and work together under one platform.”
National Coordinator of the Disciples of Jagaban (DOJ), a political Support group, Abdulhakeem Alawuje said the exit of the former governor from APC would be the ruling party’s victory in the next general election.
Adegoke said: “ It is evident that this(defection) is nothing more than an empty threat that holds no real political weight.
