As EL-RUFAI Splits Party
It is no longer news that former Kaduna State Governor, Mallam Nasir El-Rufai has dumped the APC and defected to the Social Democratic Party a couple of weeks ago. It was a move many had been expecting would happen, given the friction that had erupted between El-Rufai and the President ever since his ministerial nomination was rejected at the senate. And he made no pretences about how he felt following the way he was treated by the Senate. Indeed, at a point, he said it was not the Senate that rejected him, it was the President himself.
Shortly after he announced his defection, in an interview with BBC Hausa after his exit from the APC, the former governor promptly called on Atiku, Labour Party’s Peter Obi, ex-Rivers governor Rotimi Amaechi, ex-minister, Rauf Aregbesola and all the opposition leaders to join him in his new party. This move has been seen by many as politically dead on arrival. Many political analysts believe strongly that the coalition Rufai desires to build to unseat President Tinubu will not work simply because most of the personalities involved are men who have either lost their electoral value or simply lack the political sagacity to take on a master political strategist like Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
Interestingly, reports emanating from the SDP indicate that El-Rufai’s defection to the party has sparked off several reactions. Clearly, not all SDP leaders are happy that El-Rufai has found his way into their fold. They do not see his joining the party as anything to celebrate, on the contrary, they are warning their members to be wary of him as his real intentions for coming to the party after dumping the APC are yet unknown. This has brought about the emergence of two factions, those who welcome El-Rufai and those who don’t. The situation has triggered some sort of crisis within and, from the look of things, the situation may get out of hand if not quickly nipped in the bud.
Last week, an SDP chieftain from Kaduna had come out to boldly say that they do not want El-Rufai in the SDP owing to his perception as being a crafty and divisive politician, somebody not to be totally trusted. He also insisted that El-Rufai needs to go join the party at the Ward level like everyone else and not begin to lord himself over them as though he is a founding member of the party.
“He is not even a card carrying member of the party yet and he has started to disrupt things in the party. We hear he is already calling for a dissolution of the SDP leadership in Kaduna State and we won’t let that happen!” he stated.
And just as voices of displeasure and disapproval against El-Rufai were brewing in Rufai’s own political base in Kaduna, supporters of El-Rufai stormed the Abuja National Headquarters of the SDP with placards, calling for the exit of Dr Olu Agunloye as National Secretary. The protesters, who carried placards, accused Agunloye of fraud. Agunloye is being tried in court over an alleged $6b fraud relating to the Mambilla power project. The shocking sight of the new party members turned protesters forced Agunloye to petition the Inspector General of Police for police protection.
However, City People reports that the demand for Agunloye’s exit appears to be mainly championed by some allies of El-Rufai who fear that the SDP’s National Secretary’s past links to Tinubu and, if not, ethnic identity would hinder the political goal of stopping the president from a second term.
“The El-Rufai people feel that it would be illogical to have somebody from the South-West hold that critical position of National Secretary when you are fighting against the second term quest of somebody from the South-West,” a source privy to the development said.
Only a few days after the protest took place, the Social Democratic Party (SDP) youth and supporters coalition have kicked against the recent defection of ex Kaduna Governor, Nasir El-Rufai to the party.
The coalition, in a statement alleged that the motive behind El-Rufai’s defection, is to hijack the party for personal political interests.
His decision to leave the APC came after months of discussions with opposition leaders. In its statement signed by Abdulsamad Bello, its President, the coalition strongly kicked against El-Rufai’s membership of the party, alleging that he has ulterior motives.
Bello maintained that El-Rufai is “unfit and morally unqualified” to be in the SDP. He cited what he described as the former governor’s “anti-democratic record” while in office. “We reject El-Rufai’s entrance into our party in its entirety. He has come not as a reformer but as an undertaker, seeking to bury the SDP before it even has the chance to grow,” Bello said. The coalition also criticised the party’s leadership for what it described as a “clandestine deal” that allowed El-Rufai’s defection, warning that his presence could destabilise the party. “El-Rufai has never believed in democracy. His history of suppressing opposition voices, sidelining party members, and enforcing his will through coercion is well known.
“It is shocking that the leadership of our party would allow itself to be infiltrated by someone whose tenure in office was marked by impunity, authoritarianism, and disregard for democratic values”, the statement said
The former governor’s entry into the party has already sparked tensions.
According to the youth coalition, a few days ago, El-Rufais allies and supporters staged a protest demanding the resignation of our National Secretary, Dr. Olu Agunloye, this is evidence of El-Rufai’s attempt to seize control of the party’s leadership.
“Barely days after joining our party, El-Rufai is already pushing for a leadership change. He is demanding that Olu Agunloye resigns, even when the party has its own internal mechanisms for handling such matters. This is a clear sign of his desperation to control the SDP and mould it in his own image,” the statement added.
The group accused El-Rufai of using the SDP as a platform for his personal political ambitions, particularly in light of his recent criticisms of President Bola Tinubu and the APC.
“El-Rufai’s resignation from the APC and his calculated entry into the SDP is nothing but a desperate attempt to reinvent himself politically,” Bello added. “The same man who once insulted opposition leaders and dismissed them as irrelevant is now seeking refuge in their midst. His hypocrisy knows no bounds.”
The fight within the SDP following the entry of El-Rufai only reflects the fears of many over the prospects of the opposition against Tinubu who mounted the presidency in 2023 despite the challenges he got from within the Muhammadu Buhari presidency and the majority of the party’s governors. Besides the suspicions around Agunloye, political actors are also raising suspicions that Tinubu may have gone ahead of El-Rufai into the SDP.
That claim, according to some political watchers in Abuja, flows from the fact that the SDP has been mentioned as the famous Plan B that Tinubu hoped to fall back to had he not won the APC presidential ticket in 2022.
City People uncovered reports that in the approach to the APC presidential convention in 2022 that there were unverified reports that Tinubu was considering using the SDP platform to actualise his ambition following the perceived threats he was getting at that time from agents of the Buhari regime.
An SDP chieftain in Ondo State, Shola Agboola emphasised that the planned coalition is bound to fail because the SDP is divided. Agboola claimed that regardless of who joined the SDP, the National Working Committee led by its current National Chairman Shehu Musa Gabam, is illegal. He stated, “Ordinarily when political heavyweights join a particular party, that party should consider itself fortunate, as they are expected to add value. ‘’However, you cannot just accept someone who aims to hijack your party. This has happened to us before, so we are taking our time.
“Sincerely speaking, the Social Democratic Party is factionalized. There are two factions: Faction A, which is the original, consists of the bonafide members of the party, chaired by Simon Adesina.
‘’The other faction, the parallel group, which I call faction B, is led by Gabam. Unfortunately, Gabam is heading a kangaroo National Working Committee of the SDP.
“I will tell you to inquire from Gabam when and how he joined SDP. How did he rise to become the current national chairman? It’s very simple: Whether it was done correctly, through counterfeit means, or whatever. He was the secretary of the SDP, who at a certain point, declared himself national chairman.
“He was never elected to that position. So, you can see the imbalance that has been pervasive in the SDP for quite some time. So, I am not impressed by any of the so-called political juggernauts as long as they lack sincerity of purpose.”
But the SDP National Secretary, Olu Agunloye, denied there is a crisis in the SDP. Agunloye, who had filed a petition with the Inspector-General of Police regarding an attempted assassination and efforts to forcefully remove him from office, stated that the SDP would welcome more political heavyweights and urged party leaders to support the new entrants.
He stated, “There is no leadership crisis in our great party, the Social Democratic Party under the leadership of Alhaji Shehu Gabam, the National Chairman. ‘’The current situation that is noteworthy is that there is a much-welcomed influx of politicians including high profile elites into our party and we are expecting more to come.’’
