Former Jigawa State Governor and PDP chieftain, Sule Lamido, has dismissed former Kaduna State Governor Nasir El-Rufai’s call for opposition leaders to join the Social Democratic Party (SDP), questioning his political ideology and commitment to national development.

El-Rufai, who recently defected from the All Progressives Congress (APC) to the SDP, had urged key figures like former Vice President Atiku Abubakar and Labour Party’s Peter Obi to follow suit.

Lamido, a close ally of Atiku, criticized the invitation, saying, “If not out of disrespect, how can he look at us in the PDP and ask us to join another party? The PDP, which we built, gave birth to him politically. How can a grandson say his grandfather knows nothing?”

He also dismissed El-Rufai’s claim to love Nigeria more than others, stating, “Are you saying we don’t have Nigeria at heart?”

Lamido questioned El-Rufai’s political consistency, pointing out that he once dismissed political elders but later sought former President Muhammadu Buhari’s blessings before his defection.

He also defended his loyalty to the PDP despite past challenges, recalling that El-Rufai’s rise in politics, including his ministerial appointment, was made possible by the party.

“Everything he owns today, he got through the PDP,” Lamido stated.

He warned against opposing President Bola Tinubu out of personal grievances, arguing that leadership requires patience and a commitment to national interest rather than emotions.

Meanwhile, the Minister of State for Housing and Urban Development, Abdullahi Ata, also criticized El-Rufai, calling him a “rabble-rouser” and dismissing his claims against the APC and Tinubu’s administration as “illogical.”

Ata urged Nigerians to focus on Tinubu’s economic reforms and infrastructure development rather than El-Rufai’s political maneuvers.