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The media aide to Nasir El-Rufai has dismissed recent speculation that the former Kaduna state governor planned to defect from the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) to the Social Democratic Party (SDP), calling it an “unhealthy obsession.”
The statement came after El-Rufai hosted guests for an Iftar dinner on Tuesday, including National Security Advisor (NSA) Mallam Nuhu Ribadu, a fellow APC member, and Shehu Musa Gabam, the national chairman of the opposition SDP.
El-Rufai later visited SDP’s national secretariat, where he met Gabam and other party leaders.
The visit birthed rumours that the APC chief would defect to SDP.
However, El-Rufai’s spokesperson, Muyiwa Adekeye, refuted the claims, insisting that the former governor’s visit to the SDP chairman was a social interaction that held no hidden political motives.
“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,” Adekeye stated.
“When people visit each other or mingle across party lines, it is because human relationships exist, distinct from the political or the partisan.
“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.”
He also pointed out that Gabam’s attendance at the Iftar did not trigger accusations of a potential switch to the APC.
Adekeye added that the “unfounded speculations” about 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 assumptions with facts.”
He cited a previous instance where El-Rufai’s visit to former presidents to discuss his governance study project was misconstrued as a political move.
Adekeye, however, noted El-Rufai’s open and forthright personality, stating that if he had “any political decisions” to make, it would not be in character to let them be “subject to speculation.”
