Nasir El-Rufai, a former Governor of Kaduna State, has asserted that President Bola Tinubu’s alliance with state governors will not assure him of winning the 2027 elections if ordinary Nigerians choose to reject him.
El-Rufai made this statement during a media chat in Kano State on Monday following his recent defection from the All Progressives Congress (APC) to the Social Democratic Party (SDP).
It was a populist bent that El-Rufai employed to drive home the fact that political authority must come from below, not just political elites.
“A governor has just one vote,” he said, saying more that real political change is up to the people. He cited Tinubu’s 2023 loss in Lagos despite the support of the incumbent governor as evidence that governors themselves don’t win elections.
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El-Rufai also made a statement on rumors of merging with the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), which have been dismissed by PDP governors publicly.
He described that the coalition led by SDP is not dependent on existing parties like the PDP, which he has called a “spent force” with internal troubles.
The former governor insisted the new movement prioritize building a credible platform over immediate candidacy announcements.
Aspirants, including Peter Obi and Atiku Abubakar, are welcome but must shelve personal ambitions temporarily to help develop the coalition.
In adopting the SDP as the movement’s party platform, El-Rufai stated that it was selected strategically because it is most immune to deregistration by the INEC.
El-Rufai reiterated the need for internal democracy, transparency, and the elimination of godfather politics.
El-Rufai concluded with a warning that Nigeria is at present in the midst of an existential crisis that encompasses far more than regional politics and will require a candidate who can unite and provide real solutions.
