Nasir El-Rufai, the immediate past governor of Kaduna State, has asked Atiku Abubakar, a former Vice President of Nigeria, and Peter Obi, the presidential candidate of the Labour Party in the 2023 general election, to join the Social Democratic Party (SDP) to unseat the ruling party in 2027.
El-Rufai, who was speaking during a recent interview with BBC Hausa, also said there was no intention of merging political parties.
The former Kaduna State governor underscored the need for Peter Obi, Atiku Abubakar, and Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola to ally with him toward the 2027 elections.
He said he was not interested in forming a new political party or a merger but a united force ahead of the 2027 elections.
El-Rufai claimed he had worked hard for the emergence of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu in 2023 due to his antecedents as governor of Lagos State, hoping the president would replicate his achievements in Lagos for Nigeria, and argued that the present administration has failed.
El-Rufai, in a statement released on Monday via his Facebook account, had expressed disappointment at what he described as the APC’s departure from its core values, stating that recent developments within the party have shown an unwillingness to address internal challenges.
He confirmed that he had formally submitted his resignation letter to his ward in Kaduna, effective immediately, following consultations with political allies across the country.
After he resigned from the APC, the Kaduna chapter of the party said it was not bothered about the defection of Nasir El-Rufai to the Social Democratic Party (SDP).
“We are unperturbed by former governor Nasir El-Rufai’s defection to another party. Our focus in Kaduna is on how to deliver the state to both President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and Governor Uba Sani come 2027,” the APC Kaduna chapter said.
In a swift response, the presidency said President Bola Tinubu was placing priority on urgently improving the lives of Nigerians and not the 2027 general election.
The Presidency explained that President Tinubu was focused on what comes out of the reforms he instituted and how beneficial they have been to the growth of the nation’s economy.
It maintained that the reforms have started yielding results, as seen in the country’s growing foreign reserves, the dwindling inflation rate, and the growing trade surplus.
The presidency argued that the country’s exports have gone up and importations have dropped significantly, with investments attracting over $50 billion.
