Former Kaduna State Governor, Nasir El-Rufai, has dismissed the idea of a possible future merger, and has urged former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, ex-Labour Party presidential candidate Peter Obi, and others to join the Social Democratic Party (SDP).
This was following his resignation from the All Progressives Congress (APC) on March 10, citing a misalignment of values with the ruling party.
In a recent interview with BBC Hausa, El-Rufai pleaded with the politicians to join SDP to defeat President Bola Tinubu in 2027.
The Presidency on Friday, had said that the 2027 general election was not Tinubu’s current focus, but how to improve the economic conditions of every Nigerian.
Tinubu’s Special Adviser on Media and Public Communications, Sunday in a statement on X on Friday, said “President Tinubu is not worried about the next election. He’s worried about the shared prosperity that he can bring to Nigerians.
“He’s worried about how the reforms he has put in place will yield necessary impact. He is concerned about what happens to the economy of this country eventually. That’s the focus. “We’ve seen our foreign reserves go up. We’ve seen inflation come down. We’ve seen our trade surplus go up.
“We’ve seen exports go up and imports drop.
“We’ve seen the investments that have been attracted -over 50 billion. We are seeing prices dropping.
“We have clear data and you have a President that is clearly in the driver’s seat, and he has stayed the course of the decisions he has taken.
“And I think that the next election is not really in his view right now.
“It’s how to make sure that at the end of his first term, he can sit back and say, look, “I have impacted the lives of Nigerians. I have turned this economy around”.
However, El-Rufai during the interview with the BBC, called on the trio of Obi, Abubakar and Aregbesola to form a political alliance with him towards the 2027 elections.
“My wishes and prayers are Atiku Abubakar, Peter Obi, Rotimi Amaechi, Rauf, all opposition leaders to come and join SDP, not to do a merger or to register a new political party,” he said.
“What pains me is that the government we supported and had confidence in would do well because we saw what Tinubu did in Lagos despite his challenges,” he said.
“We all know about his issues in Chicago, but we thought if he could replicate his work in Lagos for Nigeria, let’s support him. However, he failed.”
El-Rufai clarified that his presidential political ambition in 2027, would depend on the party and the will of the people.
“It is not for me to decide; it is the party and the people that will decide. Even when I was contesting for governor, it was people that met and convinced (Muhammadu) Buhari, and he called me and asked me to contest,” he said.