Defection to SDP: Presidency, APC knock El-Rufai, dismiss threat to unseat Tinubu

The Presidency and the ruling All Progressives Congress, on Monday, dismissed moves by former Kaduna State Governor, Nasir El-Rufai, to galvanise opposition figures towards unseating President Bola Tinubu in the 2027 election.

They accused El-Rufai of being driven by “an inordinate ambition that is destined to fail” in his defection to the Social Democratic Party.

Also on Monday, the APC noted that El-Rufai’s plan to mobilise against Tinubu’s re-election in 2027 would not produce any significant outcomes.

El-Rufai, earlier on Monday, announced his defection from the APC to the opposition SDP, vowing to mobilise against the APC government in 2027.

“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 by-elections,” El-Rufai stated.

Citing irreconcilable differences with the APC leadership, El-Rufai expressed disappointment in the ruling party, stating that over the past two years, the party had strayed from its progressive principles.

He highlighted his previous efforts to address internal issues privately and publicly, which he felt were ignored, leading to his decision to seek an alternative platform that aligns with his values.

In a resignation letter submitted to his ward in Kaduna State and shared on his X account, El-Rufai stated, “As a founding member of the All Progressives Congress, 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.”

It added, “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.