Defection: El-Rufai Should Have Been Patient, Says Ex-APC Vice Chair

A former National Vice Chairman, North-West of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Salihu Lukman said the immediate-past Kaduna State governor, Malam Nasir El-Rufai should have been a bit patient for them to walk out as a group from the ruling party, based on the ongoing negotiation.

Lukman, a chief strategist and key leader in the proposed national political coalition ahead of 2027 general elections, said this while reacting to the defection of El-Rufai from APC to the Social Democratic Party (SDP) on Monday.

The former Director-General of the Progressives Governors’ Forum said although he is an ally of the former Kaduna helmsman, he would not join him in SDP unless the party meets the coalition’s requirements.

“Yes, I am close to Malam El-Rufai to the extent that we come from the same state and were in the same party. And I had the privilege of being nominated by him to serve in the National Working Committee of APC. Of course, as everybody knows, we have our own disagreements. But one of the clear cases is the fact that the issue of whether Malam is going to remain in APC or not is a foretold story.

“It’s expected even after the interview he granted on Arise TV. You can see the handwriting. But whether it is going to come so soon is what even I couldn’t have said. My expectation was that he should have been a bit patient for us to walk out as a group based on the current negotiation that is ongoing.

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“But he knows better, and I do hope his decision is not going to become like a kind of breakaway from whatever we are doing. My hope is that at the end, we should be able to reconcile and work together under one platform.

“I think the discussion about whether SDP will be there or not has been an ongoing thing. The challenge is a question of whether SDP will submit itself to some of the conditions that we believe are necessary. What are these conditions? Frankly speaking, unlike most conventional politicians who just want a platform where they will present candidates and use it to win elections, there are a few of us who believe the issue is beyond that.

“What Nigerians need is a platform that will promote political competition in the country. If you remember, the problem Nigerians had with PDP is the problem of imposition of candidates. And when the APC came and promised ‘Change’, the expectation of Nigerians is that we will change the culture of imposition.

“Unfortunately, we have failed in that. In fact, it has become worse. If things continue as they are, you can predict that President Asiwaju will become the candidate of APC, and you can predict all the first-time governors of APC will emerge as the candidate of APC, whether they are popular in their states or not. You can also predict all legislators at federal and state levels, whether they have performed or not. So long as they are in the good books of Asiwaju and the party leadership, they will be returned.

“Only if SDP meets the conditions we have set, which I have highlighted. At the moment, they have not met. We are in discussion, no doubt about it. If they meet it tomorrow, fine,” he added.