The leadership of the Social Democratic Party (SDP) in the South West has said it is unaware that the immediate past governor of Kaduna State, Malam Nasir El-Rufai, joined the party to get the presidential slot for the 2027 general election.
The zonal leader of the party, Mulikat Adeola Akande, clarified on Saturday during the ifta organised for all party members in the 11 local government councils within Ibadan city.
Adeola said that nobody should be discouraged from joining the party because politics is a game of numbers, and defectors must be ready to play by the rules of the party.
She assured members of the party that tested and trusted candidates would be presented for elective positions in Oyo State ahead of the 2027 general elections.
Hon. Adeola, who represented Ogbomoso North/South and Oriire Federal Constituency between 2007 and 2015 on the platform of the PDP, explained that she called it quits with the party when she was betrayed.
She said, “Politics is a game of number and anybody who wants to come into SDP is welcome as long as they are ready to play by the rules of the party and not with the mind of taking the party from those who are there before.
“As the leader of the SDP in the South West, I’m not aware that the intention of the former Governor to join the party is to get the party’s presidential ticket.
“I ran for Senate and we worked for the present governor of the State, Governor Seyi Makinde. While we were working for him, he was working against me, it was something I have never seen before, it was a total betrayal.”
Flanked by Michael Ogunlade Oyo State Chairman of the party and Akintola Ezekiel, Director of National Mobilisation and Strategy of the Presidential Candidate of the Action Alliance in the 2023 general elections, Major Hamza Al-Mustapha (retd) encouraged members of the party to get registered in their various wards and collect their voter’s cards.
She said, “You don’t just sit down and say you want to win election and then go and bring out anybody. We must have the right candidates, somebody tested and trusted,who has integrity that when people hears his name they can rely on him. Someone who is dependable and reliable; who will work for the people and not for himself. Those are the qualities we are looking for.”
