As Signatory To APC Merger Document, I Can’t Quit Party – El Rufai, On Visit To Opposition Members

By Ayodele Oni

Former Governor of Kaduna State, Nasir El-Rufai, has clarified that recent visits to some members of the opposition political parties were personal.

The former governor had visited the National Secretariat of the Social Democratic Party, (SDP) where he was received by the Chairman and other members of the executives.

El Rufai’s clarification was contained in a statement issued by his Special Adviser, Muyiwa Adekeye.

According to the statement, “Malam El-Rufai is known for being open and forthright. If he had any political decisions to make, it would not be in character to let them be subject to speculation.

“Unfounded speculations about Malam Nasir El-Rufai have become an industry that has delivered tons of lies and clickbait in the last 18 years.

“This is unlikely to abate anytime soon, given the persistent obsession of its purveyors who relish in negativity and their tireless indulgence in conflating assumption with fact.

“A recent instance was when he visited former presidents late in 2023 to explain his Nigerian governance study book project covering each of their tenures, the speculators said it was about politics! That is why it is sometimes necessary to clarify matters lest the unwary be taken in.

“People have personal histories and relationships that predate political affiliations. It cannot be a hallmark of civilization to have friends from within only your political party.

“When people visit each other or mingle across party lines, it is because human relationships exist, distinct from the political or the partisan.

“Mallam Nasir El-Rufai is a senior member of the APC one of the signatories to its merger documents, and a significant contributor to the party’s demonstrated viability.

“These contributions do not require that he treats friends as anathema on account of politics or maintains an antiseptic distance from them.”