The immediate-past Governor of Kaduna State, Nasir el-Rufa’i, has resigned from the ruling All Progressives Congress and defected to the Social Democratic Party (SDP).
In a statement he issued on Monday, El-Rufai expressed his disappointment with the APC’s leadership style, accusing the leadership of the party of straying from the progressive ideals of its founding members.
“Today, the 10th of March 2025, I have submitted a letter resigning my membership of the APC to my ward in Kaduna, effective immediately.
“Subsequent to this, I had concluded consultations with my mentors, colleagues and loyalists alike about the future, and have decided to join the Social Democratic Party (SDP), and adopt it as the platform for our future political engagements and activities,” the former Kaduna governor said in a statement.
El-Rufai noted that developments in the last two years confirm that there is no desire on the part of those who currently control and run the APC to acknowledge, much less address, the unhealthy situation in the party.
He added, “On my part, I have raised concerns in private and, more recently, in public regarding the capricious trajectory of the party.
“Therefore, at this point in my political journey, I have come to the conclusion that I must seek another political platform for the pursuit of the progressive values I cherish.”
El-Rufai stated that founders rightly feel attached towards institutions they helped create, but one must be pragmatic enough to admit when a divergence appears unbridgeable.
“I have diligently served the APC and made my contributions to its viability as a political platform but recognize that the party has since strayed and left me stuck in the vision of its well-meaning founding fathers and mothers.
“As a loyal party man, I worked to help secure the APC’s election victories in 2015, 2019 and 2023. I was one of the many governors elected on the party’s platform in 2015 and 2019, that stood for certain democratic and progressive principles to advance nation-building.”
The former governor stressed that his eight-year tenure in Kaduna State was devoted to implementing progressive policies to advance human development in education and healthcare, as well as expand infrastructure, promote equality of opportunity, create jobs and attract investments.
He noted that 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, and he found the situation no longer acceptable.
“As a founding member of the All Progressives Congress (APC), I have fond memories of working with other compatriots to negotiate the merger of political parties that created the APC.
“It had been my hope since 2013 that my personal values and that of the APC will align up to the time I choose to retire from politics,” El-Rufai stated.
He said that as a member of the SDP, he would focus on engaging with and persuading other opposition leaders and parties to join the party and congregate under a unified democratic platform to challenge the APC in all elections and bye-elections between now and 2027.
“I therefore call on all our supporters and other persons concerned about our country’s future to join us in the SDP in the journey towards making Nigeria flourish as a beacon of pride for Africans and the Black Race,” he said.
At this point in my political journey, I have come to the conclusion that I must seek another political platform for the pursuit of the progressive values I cherish. I have now decided to join the Social Democratic Party (SDP).
He disclosed that he had expressed concerns both 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.
El-Rufai said he submitted his resignation letter to his ward in Kaduna North Local Government Area 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.
El-Rufai’s move followed his meetings with former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, former vice presidential candidate Tunde Bakare, former President Muhammadu Buhari, among others.
