Former Kaduna State’s Governor Nasir El-Rufai is lobbying former Vice President Atiku Abubakar and the Presidential Candidate of the Labour Party in the 2023 general election, Peter Obi, to join him in the Social Democratic Party (SDP).
It is a turnaround for El-Rufai, who towards the 2023 elections, had accused Peter Obi of being anti-North and anti-Muslims.
El-Rufai, erstwhile a chieftain of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), wants Atiku and Obi to collaborate with him and SDP to unseat the ruling party in 2027.
Making the proposal during a recent interview with BBC Hausa, El-Rufai, also said there was no intention of merging political parties.
The former Kaduna State Governor also wants former Osun State’s Governor Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, recently suspended from APC, to form an alliance toward the 2027 elections.
El-Rufai 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.
In a statement released on Monday via his Facebook account, he 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, following consultations with his family and political allies nationwide.
However, the Kaduna chapter of the party said it was unbothered about the defection of Nasir El-Rufai to the Social Democratic Party (SDP).
