5 hours ago
2 ARTICLE AD
Bola Tinubu and Nasir El-Rufai
The National Vice Chairman (South-East) of the All Progressives Congress, Ijeomah Arodiogbu, has said the party and President Bola Tinubu will not be affected by the defection of former Kaduna State Governor, Nasir El-Rufai, to the opposition Social Democratic Party.
El-Rufai had on Monday dumped the APC and joined the SDP, declaring his intention to mobilise and unite opposition leaders to challenge the ruling party in the 2027 general elections.
“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.
However, the presidency and the APC dismissed El-Rufai’s bid to rally opposition figures against President Bola Tinubu, accusing him of being driven by “an inordinate ambition that is destined to fail.”
Speaking with Saturday PUNCH, Arodiogbu described El-Rufai as “a spent force.”
He stated that the Kaduna APC would not miss the former governor’s exit, let alone President Tinubu.
“El-Rufai has angered and alienated many people from different backgrounds, and he has become a political outcast. Even the Christian community will take more than a decade to forgive him for the controversial remarks he made after President Tinubu’s victory in the last presidential election,” he stated.
Also, a former Minister of Communications and APC chieftain, Adebayo Shittu, insisted that defecting from the APC was not the right step to have taken by El-Rufai.
He noted that despite the early challenges faced by the Tinubu’s administration, particularly on the removal of the fuel subsidy, the government’s support base was growing stronger.
“A lot of people who were once in the PDP and Labour Party are now joining the APC in droves. The defection of El-Rufai will not harm the party or President Tinubu’s re-election prospects,” he stated.
He added that many El-Rufai’s supporters who were unhappy with his actions have been joining the APC in Kaduna.
Shittu expressed confidence that President Tinubu would secure a second term, especially in areas like Lagos, Kaduna, and parts of the East, where the APC had lost in the 2023 elections.
He said, “The government in Kaduna is doing well and garnering support for President Tinubu.
“Things are improving, and I pray that God continues to guide the President so that he can make the right decisions for the benefit of Nigeria.”
