El-Rufai, the immediate past governor of Kaduna State on Monday left the APC, a party he was a founding member, and pitched his tent with the Social Democratic Party (SDP) in a move pundits believe will change the political texture of the country

Senator Shehu Sani has downplayed ex-governor Nasir El-Rufai’s defection from the All Progressives Congress (APC), saying the move won’t impact the ruling party’s fortune in the coming elections billed for 2027.

El-Rufai, the immediate past governor of Kaduna State on Monday left the APC, a party he was a founding member, and pitched his tent with the Social Democratic Party (SDP) in a move pundits believe will change the political texture of the country.

But Sani, who is also from Kaduna like El-Rufai, believes the former Minister of the FCT holds no political relevance.

“Well, first of all, for those of us from Kaduna State, it [his defection] is a good riddance because he stands as a liability to the party in the state,” the former Kaduna Central senator said on Monday’s edition of Channels Television’s Politics Today, citing the APC’s losses under El-Rufai.

“I can back this with facts. In 2015, APC had two senators. By 2023, all the senatorial zones were taken over by PDP. Out of the 14 House of Representatives seats in Kaduna State, by the time he left [office as governor], almost nine of the seats were won by PDP, two by the Labour Party, and then three by APC. With him as a governor, the APC also lost the presidential election in Kaduna State.”

El-Rufai had cited the party’s departure from progressive ideals as his reason for defection.

“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,” the former governor said.

Buhari was Nigeria’s president between May 2015 and May 2023.

The former FCT minister was a founding member of the ruling party. He was instrumental to APC’s victory in the 2015, 2019, and 2023 presidential elections. His relationship with the party, however, soured after he was not screened for a ministerial role.

But Sani, who recently returned to the APC, accused El-Rufai of destabilizing the party and believes his defection offers an opportunity for the APC to rebuild and come out stronger.

“So, you can see that by the time he left, already the party was an unpopular platform in the state. So his exit now is an opportunity for the governor and party leaders of the state to embrace the people of the state and to reconfigure and reset the party towards the next election,” he said. (Channels TV)