Nasir el-Rufa’i, former governor of Kaduna State, has left the ruling All Progressives Congress and joined the Social Democratic Party (SDP).
The former governor charged that the APC’s leadership had deviated from the progressive principles of its original members.
El-Rufai said in a statement released on Monday that he was disappointed with the way the APC was run and that the party’s leadership had deviated from the progressive principles of its founders.
“I’ve decided that, at this stage in my political career, I need to look for a different political platform in order to pursue the progressive ideals that I hold dear. I have now made the decision to become a member of the Social Democratic Party (SDP).” He stated.
He revealed that he had voiced his worries about the party’s direction during the previous two years, both in private and in public, but that the present leadership was unwilling to address the problems.
The former governor claimed that the people in charge of the APC have not made progress in the past two years in acknowledging and addressing the state’s unhealthy status.
“At this point in my political journey, I have come to the conclusion that I must seek another political platform for the pursuit of the progressive values I cherish.
“My eight-year tenure in Kaduna State was devoted to implementing progressive policies to advance human development. These records count for little in the current APC that has castrated its organs and treated its membership with contempt in the last two years; I find this no longer acceptable.”
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El-Rufai said he submitted his resignation letter to his ward in Kaduna North Local Government Area of the North-West state.
He described the SDP as the platform for his future political engagements even as he called on his supporters and other concerned Nigerians to join him in the SDP, emphasizing the need for a unified democratic platform to challenge the APC in future elections.
El-Rufai’s move followed his meetings with former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, former vice presidential candidate Tunde Bakare, former President Muhammadu Buhari, among others.
His defection also came after a number of confrontations with the presidency. The former governor was not at the APC national caucus and the party’s National Executive Council meeting last month.
El-Rufai was one of the northern powerbrokers who insisted that the APC presidential ticket for the 2023 general elections be given to a southern candidate in line with the unwritten principle of rotation of power between the southern and the northern regions in Nigeria. This was after the eight-year tenure of President Muhammadu Buhari, from the North-West geopolitical zone.
However, El-Rufai fell out with the movers and shakers in the current government and was rejected by the Senate during the ministerial screening process. The upper legislative chamber cited security reasons from the Department of State Services as one of the reasons for his rejecti
