Former National Working Committee (NWC) member of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Salihu Moh’d Lukman, has criticised the defection of former Kaduna state governor, Nasir El-Rufai, to the Social Democratic Party (SDP), calling it a rushed decision.
El-Rufai announced his departure from the APC in a statement on his verified Facebook page on Monday, declaring his decision to join the SDP as his new political platform.
Reacting to the move, Lukman, a political ally of El-Rufai, expressed concern that the former governor’s defection could disrupt ongoing negotiations for a broader political coalition ahead of the 2027 elections.
Speaking to journalists in Abuja, Lukman acknowledged that El-Rufai’s defection had been anticipated but argued that he should have exercised more patience to allow coalition talks to be finalised.
“My expectation was that he should have been a bit patient for us to walk out as a group based on the current negotiations,” Lukman said.
While recognizing El-Rufai’s right to switch parties, the former APC national Vice Chairman (North West) warned that the timing of his defection might have unintended consequences for opposition realignments.
According to him, “he (El-Rufai) knows better and I do hope his decision is not going to become like a kind of break away from whatever we are doing. My hope is that at the end, we should be able to reconcile and work together under one platform.”
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Asked if he would be joining El-Rufai in SDP, Lukman responded, “If only SDP meets the conditions we have set. At the moment, they (SDP) have not met. We are in discussion, no doubt about it. If they meet it tomorrow, fine.”
On coalition, Lukman said negotiations are ongoing, adding that discussion with the SDP is inconclusive.
He said, “I think the discussion about whether SDP will be there or not has been an ongoing thing. The challenge is a question of whether SDP will submit itself to some of the conditions that we believe are necessary. What are these conditions? Frankly speaking, unlike most conventional politicians, 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.
“What Nigerians need is a platform that will promote political competition in the country. If you remember, the problem Nigerians had with PDP is the problem of imposition of candidates. And when the APC came and promised ‘Change’, the expectation of Nigerians is that we will change the culture of imposition.”