Former Governor Nasir El-Rufai of Kaduna State has accused President Bola Tinubu’s government of orchestrating and funding the prevailing crises in opposition parties, including the Labour Party (LP), the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), and the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP).
El-Rufai, who recently dumped the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) to join Social Democratic Party (SDP), made the allegation in a video.
According to SaharaReporters, the aggrieved former APC founding member spoke at the office of his new party, SDP, claiming that the internal conflicts rocking the opposition were allegedly being deliberately fueled by the federal government to weaken them ahead of future elections.
“The crisis that… is facing in the Labour Party is contrived and funded by the government of the day. Everyone knows it,” El-Rufai declared.
He accused the ruling party of using legal battles as a tool to destabilise opposition leadership.
“Jumping from one court to another is all designed to distract the party leadership from focusing on their own functions,” he said.
According to El-Rufai, the same strategy is being applied to other opposition parties, including the PDP and the NNPP, where factional disputes have intensified in recent months.
“The same thing is happening in the PDP. Even in the NNPP. There are people that have been resourced to go and cause problems in NNPP,” he alleged.
The former governor pointed to the recent internal crisis within the NNPP, where a faction of the party reportedly expelled its leader, Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso, and Kano State Governor, Abba Kabir Yusuf.
“The last thing I read about NNPP was that one faction of the party has expelled Kwankwaso and the sitting governor. When you see things like that, you will know it is a contrived crisis. Which party sacks a sitting governor? And the only governor they have,” he queried.
El-Rufai, however, admitted that he lacked full details about the alleged government interference but insisted that the pattern of events suggested deliberate political sabotage.
“I don’t have the details. I cannot mention names because I don’t have the details,” he added.
El-Rufai’s comments come just days after he officially resigned from the APC, citing the party’s deviation from its founding principles and vision.
In a statement posted on Facebook, the former governor lamented that the APC had been hijacked by individuals who had abandoned the progressive ideals that led to its formation in 2013.
“Developments in the last two years confirm that there is no desire on the part of those who currently control and run the APC to acknowledge, much less address, the unhealthy situation of the party,” he said.
The former minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) revealed that he had repeatedly raised concerns about the party’s trajectory but was ignored by its leadership.
“On my part, I have raised concerns in private and, more recently, in public regarding the capricious trajectory of the party,” he stated.
El-Rufai, a key figure in securing electoral victories for the APC in 2015, 2019, and 2023, expressed disappointment at the party’s leadership, accusing it of sidelining its founding members and disregarding democratic principles.
“These records count for little in the current APC that has castrated its organs and treated its membership with contempt in the last two years. I find this no longer acceptable,” he said.
Now a member of the SDP, El-Rufai has vowed to rally opposition parties to challenge the APC in upcoming elections. He called on Nigerians who believe in progressive governance to join him in the SDP, emphasizing the need for a strong opposition to unseat the ruling party.
“I will focus on engaging with and persuading other opposition leaders and parties to join us and congregate under a unified democratic platform to challenge the APC in all elections and bye-elections between now and 2027 by the Grace of God,” he announced.
El-Rufai’s defection and latest allegations signal an escalation in political tensions ahead of the 2027 general elections.
As opposition parties struggle with internal divisions, his claims of government interference raise fresh concerns about the state of democracy and political competition in Nigeria.⁶
