Opposition in Kaduna pushes back on El-Rufai

August 21, 2025 by Our Reporter

• By Nicholas Bako

A drama is playing out in the intrigues towards 2027 elections. While politicians and parties are angling to unseat incumbents across all elective posts, the presidency is inclusive. However, at the centre of the drama features a particular actor in the person of former Kaduna State governor, Mallam Nasir El-Rufai.

Known for brewing and causing storms, the former Kaduna State Governor, was a member of the All Progressives Congress (APC) before parting ways with the party. While he has come up with long words, his pains seem to be from a denied ministerial ambition after he failed a security screening by the Department of State Security.

And at his earliest convenience, he bailed and pitched a tent with the Social Democratic Party (SDP). It didn’t take long before he was accused of causing disaffection and his unearned ambition to hijack the party for selfish reasons. El-Rufai’s defection from the APC to the SDP on March 10, 2025, was announced with characteristic fanfare on his X page.

“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.” El-Rufa wrote.

“Since 2013, I have hoped that my personal values and those of the APC will continue to align until I choose to retire from politics.”

But the Kaduna State Chapter of SDP swiftly disowned him. Officials asserted he had not completed due process, did not exist in any ward membership register, and allegedly forged his own registration. Reports said the party even expelled him, banning him from the SDP for 30 years. About two weeks later, SDP’s Assistant National Secretary, Northwest zone, Idris Inuwa, called a press conference to inform that El-Rufai is not recognised as a member because he was yet to follow due process.

“It has come to our notice that certain individuals, including Nasir El-Rufai, are being rumored to have joined the SDP,” Inuwa said.

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“However, neither the Chairman of the Kaduna North Local Government Chapter in Kaduna State, nor the leadership of Unguwar Sarki ward, has any record of these memberships. We advise him and any other interested individuals to follow the proper procedures if they wish to officially become members of the party.”

But like a worm, el-Rufai seems to penetrate some members because in July, the Kaduna State chapter of the SDP stated that el-Rufai was a bona fide member and a significant stakeholder. And by June, this development made Idris reiterate his earlier warning to El-Rufa in March.

“It has come to our attention that Mallam Nasir El-Rufai has taken it upon himself to appear in various fora, including policy dialogues, stakeholder engagements, and even private strategy meetings, purporting to speak on behalf of the Social Democratic Party,” Idris said at press conference.

“Let this be made unequivocally clear to all: Mallam El-Rufai is not authorised, mandated, or recognised by the SDP in any capacity to represent its interests, articulate its positions, or speak on its behalf.”

Ironically, this time around, the Kaduna State Chapter SDP Chairman, Nasiru Maikano, declared that El-Rufai a bonafide SDP member “in the party and is officially listed as member number 001 in the SDP membership register of Unguwar Sarki Ward, Kaduna North Local Government Area.”

This internal duel highlights a deeper crisis of a party torn between enforcing its constitution and institutional discipline against the influence of a high-profile defector. What could have informed the sudden development by the Kaduna State chapter of the SDP to acknowledge El-Rufai’s status in the party. Anyway, it does not take rocket science to prophesy that a continuous romance with el-Rufai would likely bring about party implosion.

And like a harlot, El-Rufai has been sighted frolicking with those he once abused. The urge to flirt with the African Democratic Congress (ADC) into a blind coalition with a sole agenda of removing President Bola Tinubu was too attractive for him to resist. But again, El-Rufai may be doing what El-Rufai knows to do best – scatter. Hence, to prevent a heist, in early August 2025, the Kaduna chapter of the ADC publicly warned El-Rufai against a reported plot to hijack the party using remnants of his SDP political structure as leverage.

A chieftain of the ADC, Alhaji Ahmed Tijjani Mustapha, warned El-Rufai to desist from selfish politics.

“We are open to all Nigerians who believe in our values,” he read from a prepared text, on behalf of party elders

“But we will not allow our party to be turned into a political vehicle for anyone’s personal project. El-Rufai’s subversive moves are unacceptable and will be strongly resisted.”

They emphasized that he had never formally joined the ADC and that they would resist any attempt to undermine party unity or convert the ADC into a vehicle for personal ambition. It is clear that in Kaduna, the ADC is wary of El-Rufai

Parties are often incubators for strong personalities rather than robust systems. When a high-profile figure enters the arena, they test the system’s resilience—either reinforcing it or breaking it. As it stands now, El-Rufai’s volatile transition away from the APC has triggered fierce pushback from both the SDP and the ADC in Kaduna State.

As a former Director-General of the Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE) from 1999 to 2003, FCT Minister from 2003 to 2007 and two term Kaduna governor, El-Rufa is not a pawn on the national political chessboard. His stature and antecedents as a political actor brings both expertise and suspicion in equal measure. However, this time around, it seems his gallivanting across political parties has resulted more in yielding deficits.

El-Rufai’s behaviour and reports about him signify he was not all what he professed to be. Definitely not the man who preached rule of law, order and uprightness. While the SDP’s insistence on formal membership procedures reflects faith in process over power and is commendable, el-Rufa’s attempt to scuttle them should be frowned against. In the case of the Kaduna ADC that welcomed El-Rufai, it left to be seen whether the former governor would comply and avoid political opportunism.

With the likes of El-Rufai hopping around for parties to hatch their ambitions, there are few points for the need to strengthen parties. They must reassert formal internal democracy. The membership, candidacy, and leadership transitions in the parties must be codified, transparent, and respected, even in the face of celebrity entry. Members, even at the grassroots cadres must grasp ideology and procedure, not just rallying for big names. Also, opposition parties should collaborate on agendas, not just personalities. Shared values strengthen legitimacy. And lastly, when rules are violated by elite or grassroots, the party must respond to preserve credibility.

The SDP-ADC conflagration centered around El-Rufai is more than political soap opera. It’s a mirror held to Nigeria’s fragile party systems whereby men party-hop, taking them over to push selfish ambitions. For now, both SDP and ADC in Kaduna have made symbolic declarations. They have upheld that process matters, and that the party is not for sale. And for now, El-Rufai is politically homeless.

•Bako writes from Kaduna