Former Kaduna Central Senator, Shehu Sani, has described ex-Kaduna State Governor, Nasir El-Rufai, as a liability to the All Progressives Congress (APC), citing his role in the party’s decline in the state.
Speaking on Channels TV’s Politics Today on Monday, Sani reacted to El-Rufai’s defection to the Social Democratic Party (SDP), stating that the former governor’s leadership weakened the APC’s influence.
Sani backed his claims with electoral statistics, noting that:
- In 2015, APC won two senatorial seats in Kaduna, but by 2023, all three senatorial districts had been won by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
- Out of 14 House of Representatives seats, PDP won nine, Labour Party took two, while APC retained only three.
- APC also lost the presidential election in Kaduna, with Atiku Abubakar of PDP securing 554,316 votes, while Bola Tinubu of APC polled 399,273 votes.
Sani remarked that El-Rufai had alienated many party members, calling him the “Alpha and Omega” of the Kaduna APC, who expelled others from the party. “He evicted us to the forest, and today, the Lord has evicted him to the wilderness,” Sani quipped.
He added that El-Rufai’s exit now provides an opportunity for Kaduna APC leaders to reconnect with the people and rebuild the party ahead of future elections.
