El-rufai dismisses idea of merger, urges Atiku, Obi, others to join SDP

The former Kaduna State Governor, Nasir El-Rufai, has dismissed the idea of a possible future merger, and has urged former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, ex-Labour Party presidential candidate Peter Obi, and others to join the Social Democratic Party (SDP).

In a recent interview with BBC Hausa, El-Rufai pleaded with the politicians to join SDP to defeat President Bola Tinubu in 2027.

El-Rufai during the interview with the BBC, called on the trio of Obi, Abubakar and Aregbesola to form a political alliance with him towards the 2027 elections.

“My wishes and prayers are Atiku Abubakar, Peter Obi, Rotimi Amaechi, Rauf, all opposition leaders to come and join SDP, not to do a merger or to register a new political party,” he said.

El-Rufai clarified that his presidential political ambition in 2027, would depend on the party and the will of the people.

The Presidency on Friday, had said that the 2027 general election was not Tinubu’s current focus, but how to improve the economic conditions of every Nigerian.

Tinubu’s Special Adviser on Media and Public Communications, Sunday in a statement on X on Friday, said “President Tinubu is not worried about the next election. He’s worried about the shared prosperity that he can bring to Nigerians.

“He’s worried about how the reforms he has put in place will yield necessary impact. He is concerned about what happens to the economy of this country eventually. That’s the focus. “We’ve seen our foreign reserves go up. We’ve seen inflation come down. We’ve seen our trade surplus go up.

“We’ve seen exports go up and imports drop.

“We’ve seen the investments that have been attracted -over 50 billion. We are seeing prices dropping”.