A former Governor of Kaduna state, Nasir el-Rufai has declared that he is not leaving the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).
TheHintsNews reports that the former Minister of Federal Capital Territory (FCT) recently with the leadership of Social Democratic Party (SDP) at the party national secretariat in Abuja.
The meeting also as a former Chief Security Officer to the late Gen. Sani Abacha, Major Hamza Al-Mustapha (rtd) and Atiku’s former spokesman, Segun Showunmi.
Since the meeting, there are some speculations that aggrieved member sof the All Progressives Congress (APC), Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) stalwarts, other formidable members of the opposition party are consulting about forming an alliance capable of defeating President Bola Tinubu and APC in 2027.
However, speaking with journalists briefly on Tuesday in Abuja at the end of a two-day national conference on strengthening democracy in Nigeria organised by Centre LSD And Partners, el-Rufai he said he still remained a member of the ruling party.
His words: “I am not leaving the APC. I don’t have such plans.”
On why he is hard on the party, he said: “No, no, no, I want them to change.”
Speaking at the same event on Monday, el-Rufai lamented criticised the quality of leadership emerging from political parties, attributing it to unqualified delegates
He was of the opinion that the problems that led to the creation of the APC remained unresolved.
He said he no longer believes APC is interested in addressing those problems, adding that the distance between him and the party is widening.
El-Rufai alleged that there were internal mercenaries in the PDP, hired and motivated to destroy the party.
He stated: “I no longer recognize the APC. No party organ has met in two years—no caucus, no NEC, nothing. You don’t even know if it is a one-man show; it’s a zero-man show.”
“You cannot afford to have illiterates, semi-illiterates, and cunning people as your leaders. This is why we end up with the poor leadership we have today.”
Bearing his mind on the party’s foundation, el-Rufai said the APC was originally established to combat corruption, rebuild the economy, and enhance security. He, however, said the goals have been abandoned.
He added: “There are internal mercenaries in the PDP, hired and motivated to destroy the party. The Labour Party is also facing similar issues.
“Peter Obi himself told me, ‘I don’t know what’s happening in the party I contested with.’ There seems to be a deliberate project to destroy opposition parties.”