His exit has no impact, Kaduna APC insists
After months of speculations, the former Governor of Kaduna State, Nasir el-Rufai, yesterday, finally announced his resignation from the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), just as he decamped to the Social Democratic Party (SDP).
el-Rufai cited irreconcilable political differences with the current leadership of APC as his reasons for dumping APC.
The ex-governor, who was also a founding member of the APC, expressed his decision to dump the party in a letter of resignation submitted on Monday to the APC party ward office in Kaduna State.
He expressed his disappointment with the party’s direction in recent years, saying that the ruling party has lost focus and democratic principles.
According to him, “I have diligently served the APC and made my contributions to its viability as a political platform.
“However, developments in the last two years have confirmed a troubling disregard for democratic principles and progressive values that I hold dear,” he added.
Besides, el-Rufai highlighted his role in securing electoral victories for the APC in 2015, 2019, and 2023, while emphasising his commitment to advancing human development, education, healthcare, infrastructure, job creation, and investment in Kaduna State during his tenure as governor.
“At this point in my political journey, I must seek another political platform for the pursuit of the progressive values I cherish,” el-Rufai said.
He expressed gratitude to his mentors, colleagues, and supporters for their counsel and announced his decision to join the Social Democratic Party (SDP).
“As a member of the SDP, I am committed to fostering a unified democratic platform to challenge the APC in upcoming elections,” el-Rufai stressed.
He then called upon all Nigerians concerned about the country’s future to join him in the SDP’s endeavour to elevate Nigeria as a beacon of pride for Africa and the Black Race.
el-Rufai had fallen out with APC and other allies in Kaduna, when an investigative panel was instituted by the State House of Assembly, indicting him of allegedly siphoning State funds to the tune of N432 billion.
The decision by the National Assembly, not to clear him for ministerial appointment also fuelled the political logjam between him and President Bola Tinubu.
AN aide to the APC national chairman, Okpokwu Ogenyi, however, said el-Rufai, is a featherweight, whose impact would not be felt in the coming 2027 elections.
Ogenyi, who is a special assistant to Ganduje on Civil Societies Organisations (CSOs) described el-Rufai as a political lightweight in the North. He also said el-Rufai’s exit would be of no impact on the fortunes of APC in the North.
According to him: “Was el-Rufai not a sitting governor in Kaduna state when we lost in Kaduna in the 2023 poll? So, what would then happen now that he is no longer in government? Since El Rufai left office, have you heard of anything like the Southern Kaduna killings? It is no longer there.”
He said without el-Rufai, the North-West would massively vote for the APC. Remember the speaker of the House of Representatives is from the North-West, the Deputy Senate President Barau Jibrin is from the North-West and the national chairman is also from there.
In a similar vein, the Kaduna chapter of APC also dismissed el-Rufai’s defection, saying APC would not lose sleep over the move.
The Secretary of APC in the State, Yahaya Baba-Pate, said APC remained unperturbed by the exit of el-Rufai, stressing that the party is focused on delivering the state to President Ahmed Bola Tinubu and Governor Uba Sani in 2027.
Baba-Pate, who spoke to journalists in Kaduna, expressed confidence in the party’s growing strength in the state, citing the influx of high-profile politicians joining the party daily in the state.
He said: “We are unperturbed by el-Rufai’s defection to another party. Our main focus in Kaduna is on how to deliver the state to both President Ahmed Bola Tinubu and Governor Uba Sani in 2027.”
Also dismissing the defection, civil rights activist and ex-lawmaker in the defunct 8th National Assembly, Senator Shehu Sani, has said the political relevance and fortune of el-Rufai has eclipsed with the declaration of his membership of the Social Democratic Party (SDP).
Sani said: “Leaving APC for SDP wouldn’t make any difference for someone with no political relevance again.”
Sani averred that despite el-Rufai’s exit from APC, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and Governor Uba Sani, will be voted again in 2027.
He said information gathered revealed that the return of Sani and other prominent politicians in Kaduna such as Senator Suleiman Hunkuyi; Senator Danjuma Laah, former Governor Ramalan Yero, and others to APC recently unsettled el-Rufai.
PRESIDENTIAL Candidate of SDP in the 2023 poll, Adewole Adebayo noted that with an avid worker like el-Rufai joining the party, it was time to liberate Nigerians from the shackles of poverty and insecurity into which the APC has put them over the years
Writing in his official X handle, @Pres_Adebayo, he said: “On behalf of the teeming members of the SDP and patriotic democrats, who believed 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.
“Now is the time for us to put our collective shoulders behind the efforts to fulfil Chapter 2 of the Constitution and rescue Nigerians from bad governance and underdevelopment to restore #HopeAgain 2027 to the suffering masses callously left behind in the locust years of the APC and its co-traveller PDP.”
He said that the North-South balance on the presidential ballot is not the immediate purview of political calculations in SDP for the next general elections.
He noted that Nigerians have gone beyond disputations over diversity and inclusion, stressing that the major worry of citizens is how to guarantee their socio-economic well-being.
THIS is just as an eminent stakeholder in the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP), Buba Galadima, stressed that a coalition of persons instead of political parties is welcome to avert a repeat of the 2015 mistake that birthed Muhammadu Buhari and Asiwaju Bola Tinubu as presidents.
Speaking to The Guardian on current developments in the polity, Galadima remarked that contrary to speculations in the media, neither the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Labour Party (LP) nor NNPP is merging with anybody.
While contending that PDP transmuted to a branch of APC, the NNPP chieftain, however, said that both LP and NNPP have been infiltrated for eventual takeover.
“You should know that PDP is not merging with anybody because PDP is a branch of APC. Nobody needs to tell you that. The Labour Party has been taken over. So, only individuals can merge, I mean, can come together and go under one umbrella.
“But you should also know that it is not good for us to commit the mistakes of 2014 or 2013, just to remove Tinubu for removal’s sake, because you may remove Tinubu as you removed Buhari and brought in Tinubu and be using torchlight during daylight looking for Tinubu,” he stated.
But the National Secretary of SDP, Olu Agunloye, said the former Kaduna State governor is well known for his vibrant productivity as proprietor of Intercellular company, as boss of BPE, as Minister, as Governor of Kaduna and as a person and politician, he will add value to the party.
He, however, said el-Rufai will have to disclose his reasons for leaving the ruling party to join SDP.
While he welcomed him to SDP, Agunloye said “But I presume it is related to 2027 because we are in the season of alignments, alliances, and coalitions for power.”
He said Nigerians are excited at bigwigs joining SDP but the problem is that bigwigs must resolve to do things correctly because that’s the only way to bring Nigeria out of the woods.
According to him, “Will the coming of these politicians place SDP as the third force in the nation’s political scene? The coming of more politicians can strengthen SDP if handled diligently and constructively not just to position SDP as a third force but as the first force. But the influx may be counterproductive, too.”
Responding to whether SDP believes in a coalition to oust APC, Agunloye said, “SDP believes in properly organised coalitions and collaboration to achieve a goal, but that must not be for personal gains or vendetta. SDP is desirous of a coalition to build a consensus for good governance and not as a conspiracy.”
Since May 2023 when President Tinubu was sworn into office, scores of prominent Nigerians have cited varying reasons for defecting from their original parties.
While the ruling APC appears to have benefitted more from the gale of defection, the fact remains that the game has produced damaging effects on democracy and good governance.
A chronicle of defection promoters especially in the last two years showed that even those who had criticised the practice in the past had suddenly embraced it.
Former Senate President, Anyim Pius Anyim, who was also caught in the web of defection, left the Peoples Democratic Party to the All Progressives Congress in July 2024.
He announced the defection at the Pa Oruta Ngele Township Abakaliki, the state capital, during the Grand Finale of the APC Local Government election Campaign.
He led a host of other notable personalities across other political parties, including former state and National Assembly members, former governorship candidate of Labour Party in the state, Edwin Nkwegu, Senator Obinna Ọgba, former national and state assembly candidates and thousands of their supporters to join the party.
