Defection Looms As Atiku, El-Rufai Hold Closed-door Meeting With SDP
Several prominent opposition figures held a closed-door meeting with officials of the Social Democratic Party in Abuja on Tuesday.
The agenda of the meeting has not been disclosed at the time of writing this report.
The meeting took place early on Tuesday at the national secretariat of the SDP and included former Kaduna State Governor Nasir El-Rufai, Major Hamza Al-Mustapha (former Chief Security Officer to General Sani Abacha), and Otunba Segun Showunmi, a former spokesman for Atiku Abubakar, among others.
Confirming the meeting, Showunmi shared the news on his Facebook page.
He wrote: “You must set forth at dawn! A strategic meeting was called by HE Shehu Gabam, Chairman of SDP, with HE Nasir El-Rufai, Major Hamza Al-Mustapha, and Otunba Segun Showunmi. The alternative to meet, greet, and review the state of opposition democratic engagement in Nigeria.”
This development follows El-Rufai’s dismissal of reports suggesting that he had defected from the APC to the opposition Peoples Democratic Party.
Responding to the rumours on his verified X account, the former Kaduna governor urged Nigerians to disregard the false reports, calling them “patent lies.” He also revealed that he had instructed his lawyers to take legal action against those spreading the misinformation.
“Please disregard the patent lies and rumours about my political affiliation. I have referred the lead peddlers of the fake news for further action by my lawyers,” El-Rufai posted on Sunday.
A close associate of the former governor, who requested anonymity, also described the claims as the work of mischief-makers, stressinig that El-Rufai, a key figure in the APC, would not have defected to the PDP without making it public.
