A former Governor of Kaduna State, Nasir El-Rufai, has denied rumours of his planned defection of the All Progressives Congress (APC) to the Social Democratic Party (SDP).
El-Rufai made an unexpected appearance at the SDP National Secretariat in Abuja on Wednesday.
The National Chairman of the SDP, Shehu Musa Gabam, and other chieftains of the party received the former Kaduna governor.
Reacting in a statement on Thursday issued by his spokesman, Muyiwa Adekeye, El-Rufai said he only visited the SDP headquarters to return a visit to the party’s chairman.
The former Minister said Gabam was among his friends who took part in the break of the Ramadan fast (Iftar) at his house in Abuja on Tuesday.
El-Rufai said he is known for being open and forthright, adding that his political decisions would not be subjected to speculation.
The statement reads: “I consider the most recent speculations about Malam Nasir El-Rufai as reflecting an unhealthy obsession with politics.
“People have personal histories and relationships that predate political affiliations. It cannot be a hallmark of civilisation 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.
“Malam 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.
“Malam Nasir El-Rufai hosted some friends to Iftar on Tuesday, 19 March 2024. NSA Nuhu Ribadu was at the Iftar with a senior APC figure like Alh. Kashim Imam. SDP National Chairman Shehu Musa Gabam was among the friends who partook in the Iftar. Gabam was not accused of considering crossing over to the APC on account of that.
“When Malam Nasir El-Rufai visited Gabam the next day, he was merely returning a visit to a friend who happens to be the SDP chairman.
“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.”
