El-Rufai, Al-Mustapha meeting with us unsettling APC – SDP chairman

The National Chairman of the Social Democratic Party (SDP), Alhaji Shehu Musa Gabam, has said that the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) is jittery over the recent visit of former Kaduna State Governor, Nasir el-Rufai, and former Chief Security Officer to late Head of State, General Sani Abacha, Major Hamza Al-Mustapha (rtd), to the SDP.

Gabam said the APC should not panic since they felt the former governor was irrelevant.

El-Rufai, Al-Mustapha, and a former presidential candidate, Segun Showunmi, an ally of former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, met with the leadership of the Social Democratic Party (SDP) on Tuesday, creating suspicion of a possible alliance to dislodge the ruling party in 2027.

The meeting was held at the SDP’s national secretariat in Abuja under the leadership of Gabam, the national chairman.

Gabam, speaking on Channels TV Politics Today Programme on Thursday, hinted on a possible alliance by opposition parties to dislodge the APC in 2027.

“And by the way, why the dust about Mallam Nasir El-Rufai? They say he is not of importance, he is no of significant or nothing. So why are they worried about El-Rufai? Why are they worried about Major Hamza Al-Mustapha and Otunba Segun Showunmi If they are nothing, if they are important, why wouldn’t their parties or the government give them the relevant role they needed to play and enhance the efficiency of the government?

“So if you feel these people are useless, they are not important, and the slightest move you get panic, and you press a red button.”

The SDP National Chairman also referred to President Bola Tinubu and his predecessor Muhammadu Buhari as siamese twins, saying their policies were anti-people.

He said, “I placed a lot of hope on President Tinubu that he will perform much, much better than President Buhari. And he’s somebody that I know, that I respect but there is no any sign that he is doing that.

“I have not seen any transition. Where is this transition in the CBN? Where is this transition in the NNPC? This is the biggest cartel Nigeria has ever had in history.

“They are exploiting Nigeria. What is the transition there? What changes are we having? So tell me a specific area where there’s a transformation or shift of policy from Buhari’s policy to Tinubu’s policy. Virtually everything was inherited.

“Some of these contracts they are talking about was from Buhari’s regime. They just took over, they are modifying some of the areas. It’s not as if they initiated the entire process.

“By May, he will be two years in office and there is nothing really to showcase. But in two years, if you have a committed team, you can do something like a miracle.

“You can go to Egypt. Go and see the massive transformation that they are doing. So what I’m saying in essence is that we all wish him well.

“We don’t want him to fail. As somebody that has been tested, has been voted for by Nigerians and what we expected is for him to build that legitimacy base.

“There is no policy this government will bring that Nigerians will accept because of the trust deficit gap. He should deal with that. He should show Nigeria that he’s a leader, he’s an elder, he’s a father and that he wants the country to move on.”