Immediate past Kaduna State governor and founding member of the All Progressives Congress, Mallam Nasir El-Rufai, has defected from the ruling party to the opposition Social Democratic Party.
Embattled El-Rufai cited a growing misalignment between his personal values and the current direction of the ruling APC as the basis for his defection.
He disclosed this in a press statement released on his X handle on Monday, expressing his disappointment with the APC’s leadership and accusing the party of straying from the progressive ideals of its founding members.
El-Rufai wrote, “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 personal values and those of the APC will continue to align until I choose to retire from politics.
“Developments in the last two years confirm that those who currently control and run the APC do not desire to acknowledge, much less address, the party’s unhealthy situation. I have raised concerns in private and, more recently, in public regarding the party’s capricious trajectory. Therefore, at this point in my political journey, I have come to the conclusion that I must seek another political platform to pursue the progressive values I cherish.
“Founders rightly feel attached towards institutions they helped create, but one must be pragmatic enough to admit when a divergence appears unbridgeable. I have diligently served the APC and made my contributions to its viability as a political platform, but I recognize that the party has since strayed and left me stuck in the vision of its well-meaning founding fathers and mothers. As a loyal party man, I worked to help secure the APC’s election victories in 2015, 2019 and 2023. I was one of the many governors elected on the party’s platform in 2015 and 2019 that stood for certain democratic and progressive principles to advance nation-building.”
The former Kaduna governor disclosed that he had already submitted his resignation letter to the ruling party.
He added that his consultations with his mentors, colleagues, and loyalists made him settle for the SDP in preparation for the 2027 general elections.
“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,” he added.
El-Rufai urged his supporters and other Nigerians to join his new party in an attempt to bring back Nigeria as a beacon of pride for Africans and the black race.
Recently, El-Rufai joined some APC chieftains of to criticise its National Executive Council and Board of Trustees over their failures to convene meetings throughout last year.
He also shunned recent stakeholders’ meeting scheduled at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, explaining that the meeting lacked the required 14 to 21 days’ notice.
On Sunday, El-Rufai visited former Minister of Interior, Rauf Aregbesola, and Pastor Tunde Bakare, in Lagos.
El-Rufai’s photographs posing with Aregbesola and Bakare went viral on social media.
While the former Kaduna governor’s discussion with both Aregbesola and Bakare was not revealed, it is believed that the visits were part of his political scheming ahead of the 2027 general elections.
