A former senator who represented Kaduna Central, Shehu Sani, has said the defection of former Governor Nasir El-Rufai won’t affect the fortunes of the party in the 2027 elections.
He said Mr El-Rufai was a liability to the party and caused it to lose many seats during the last general elections.
Mr Sani stated this while reacting to Mr El-Rufai’s defection during an interview on Channels TV on Monday.
The Senator insisted that the former governor lacks the relevance to win any election in the state, saying: “Well, first of all, for those of us from Kaduna State, it [his defection] is a good riddance because he stands as a liability to the party in the state.
“I can back this with facts. In 2015, APC had two senators. By 2023, all the senatorial zones were taken over by PDP.
“Out of the 14 House of Representatives seats in Kaduna State, by the time he left [office as governor], almost nine of the seats were won by PDP, two by the Labour Party, and then three by APC. With him as a governor, the APC also lost the presidential election in Kaduna State,” he added.
Mr Sani, who recently returned to the APC, accused Mr El-Rufai of destabilising the party, believing that his defection offers an opportunity for the APC to rebuild and come out stronger.
“So, you can see that by the time he left, already the party was an unpopular platform in the state.
“So his exit now is an opportunity for the governor and party leaders of the state to embrace the people of the state and to reconfigure and reset the party towards the next election,” he added.
