By Seyi Odewale
After months of speculation, Nasir el-Rufai, a former governor of Kaduna State, has dumped the All Progressives Congress (APC) for the Social Democratic Party (SDP).
In a statement he issued yesterday, el-Rufai expressed his disappointment with the APC’s leadership style, accusing the party of straying from the progressive ideals of its founding members.
His defection did not go without backlash, as the Kaduna State chapter of the APC described his exit as a good riddance.
But his new party, SDP, described him as hardworking and sagacious.
However, el-Rufai disclosed that he had expressed concerns privately and publicly over the party’s trajectory in the past two years but found no willingness among the current leadership to address the issues.
The former governor said, “Developments in the last two years on the part of those who currently control and run the APC to acknowledge, much less address, the unhealthy situation of the state.
“At this point in my political journey, I have concluded that I must seek another political platform to pursue the progressive values I cherish.
“My eight-year tenure in Kaduna State was devoted to implementing progressive policies to advance human development. These records count for little in the current APC that has castrated its organs and treated its membership with contempt in the last two years; I find this no longer acceptable.”
El-Rufai said he submitted his resignation letter to his Kaduna North Local Government Area ward of the North-West state.
He described the SDP as the platform for his future political engagements even as he called on his supporters and other concerned Nigerians to join him in the SDP, emphasising the need for a unified democratic platform to challenge the APC in future elections.
