FMR KADUNA STATE GOVERNOR, NASIR EL-RUFAI, DUMPS APC FOR SDP

Former governor of Kaduna State, Malam Nasir El-Rufai, has formerly decamped from the governing All Progressives Congress (APC) to the Social Democratic Party (SDP), thereby confirming what many political observers had longed projected, following his fallout with the administration under President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.

El-Rufai announced his defection from the APC in a statement he issued on Monday, in which he expressed his disappointment with the leadership style of the governing party, accusing the leadership of the party of straying from the progressive ideals of its founding members.

“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. I have now decided to join the Social Democratic Party (SDP)” El-Rufai stated.

He disclosed that he had expressed concerns both privately and publicly over the party’s trajectory in the past two years but found no willingness among the current leadership to address the issues.

The former governor said, “Developments in the last two years on the part of those who currently control and run the APC to acknowledge, much less address, the unhealthy situation of the state.

He noted that “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.”

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, emphasising the need for a unified democratic platform to challenge the APC in future elections.