A former National Vice Chairman (North-West) of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Salihu Lukman, has criticised ex-Kaduna governor Nasir El-Rufai’s defection to the Social Democratic Party (SDP), calling it premature.
Lukman, speaking with journalists in Abuja on Monday, March 10, said the move was not the collective decision they had envisioned.
“Yes, I am close to Mallam El-Rufai to the extent that we come from the same state and were in the same party. And I had the privilege of being nominated by him to serve on the National Working Committee of APC. Of course, as everybody knows, we have our own disagreements,” he stated.
He added, “It (defection) is expected even after the interview he granted on Arise TV. You can see the handwriting. But my expectation was that he should have been a bit patient for us to walk out as a group based on the ongoing negotiation.
“But he knows better, and I do hope his decision is not going to become like a kind of breakaway from whatever we are doing. My hope is that at the end, we should be able to reconcile and work together under one platform.”
Asked whether he and some northern political elites would follow El-Rufai to the SDP, Lukman raised concerns about the opposition party’s leadership.
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“The challenge is whether SDP will submit itself to some of the conditions that we believe are necessary. Frankly speaking, unlike most conventional politicians who just want a platform where they will present candidates and use it to win elections, there are a few of us who believe the issue is beyond that,” he said.
He argued that Nigeria needs a political platform that ensures real competition.
“If you remember, the challenge Nigerians had with the PDP was the problem of imposition of candidates. But when the APC came and promised ‘change,’ the expectation was that we would change the culture of imposition.
“Unfortunately, we have failed in that. In fact, it has become worse. If things continue as they are, you can predict that President Tinubu will become the candidate of the APC, and you can predict all the first-time governors of the APC will emerge as the candidate of the APC, whether they are popular in their states or not.
“You can also predict all legislators at federal and state levels, whether they have performed or not. So long as they are in the good books of Asiwaju and the party leadership, they will be returned. So, we may move if the SDP meets the conditions I have highlighted. We are in discussion, no doubt about it. If they meet it tomorrow, fine.”
El-Rufai, a founding APC member, announced his switch to the SDP on Monday, citing a disconnect between his values and the ruling party’s current direction.