Daniel Bwala, Special Adviser to President Bola Tinubu on Policy Communication, has slammed former Kaduna State Governor, Nasir El-Rufai, for defecting from the ruling All Progressives Congress to the Social Democratic Party.
Bwala described El-Rufai’s move as driven by “inordinate ambition” rather than political ideology.
The Point had reported earlier that El-Rufai resigned from the ruling APC and officially joined SDP.
It was learnt that El-Rufai’s resignation letter has already been submitted to the APC leadership in his ward in Kaduna State.
He also instructed his political allies and supporters to follow him to the SDP.
El-Rufai, a former Minister of the Federal Capital Territory cited a widening disconnect between his personal values and the current direction of the APC as the primary reason for his defection.
He revealed that he had repeatedly raised concerns about the party’s trajectory both privately and publicly over the past two years, but his warnings were ignored by the APC leadership.
El-Rufai, who was instrumental in the 2013 merger of opposition parties that led to the formation of the APC, lamented that the party had lost its original vision.
He recalled his contributions to APC’s victories in 2015, 2019, and 2023, as well as his tenure as Kaduna governor, during which he championed policies in education, healthcare, infrastructure, job creation, and investment.
El-Rufai insisted that he had no personal grudges against the Tinubu administration but criticised how the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) was being run, warning that unresolved issues within the party could lead to deeper internal cracks.
Reacting to his defection, Bwala in a statement directed at El-Rufai, acknowledged the former governor’s right to switch parties but questioned his motives.
He argued that joining forces with individuals who have lost political relevance in an attempt to unseat the incumbent government does not qualify as a progressive ideology.
“Senior, @elrufai. I read the news today that you resigned from APC to join SDP. Well, I have nothing against you because you exercised your constitutional right,” Bwala stated.
However, he warned that El-Rufai’s defection would be scrutinized in the coming days and that Nigerians would be reminded of the former governor’s political history.
He said that El-Rufai was not a “phenomenon that emerges like a clap of thunder out of a blue sky.”
Bwala added, “We would intellectually remind you that associating with sore losers to unseat the incumbent is not an ideology, neither is it progressivism; it is simply an inordinate ambition that is destined to fail.”
Senior, @elrufai . I read the news today that you resigned from APC to join SDP. Well I have nothing against you because you exercised your constitutional right.
However, the MOTIVE is what we would interrogate in the coming days and remind Nigerians that you are not a phenomenon that emerges like a clap of thunder out of a blue sky.”
