- He wondered why the meeting is causing so much ruckus since, according to him, El-Rufai has been deemed inconsequential and of no use to the present administration.
The National Chairman of the Social Democratic Party, SDP, Shehu Gabam, has shed more light on his recent meeting with the immediate past governor of Kaduna State, Nasir El-Rufai.
Gabam, on Tuesday, met with El-Rufai and allies of ex-Vice President, Atiku Abubakar.
The closed-door meeting, which took place at the SDP national secretariat, has got tongues wagging and triggered speculations about an imminent political alliance ahead of the 2027 election s.
However, Gabam expressed concern over the reaction that the meeting has generated, stating that his party has done nothing wrong in holding talks with the ex-Kaduna governor.
He wondered why the meeting is causing so much ruckus since, according to him, El-Rufai has been deemed inconsequential and of no use to the present administration.
“Why the dust about Malam Nasir El-Rufai? They say he is not significant. He’s nothing. Why the worry about El-Rufai? Why the worry about Segun Sowunmi? If they are important, why won’t the government give them the relevant roles they need to play to enhance the efficiency of the government?” He said during a chat with Channels Television’s Politics Today programme on Thursday.
According to him, the meeting was to strategically review the situation of the country in 2024 as a party.
“We are an opposition party with elected members in the parliament, state assemblies, and in the local governments. So, we owe it a duty as a party to look at areas where things are not going right and open the space of the party and reach out to a lot of people.
“It’s the same thing APC did when PDP was misbehaving; they reorganised, they regrouped, they relaunched a merger that led to the defeat of the PDP.
“So, we are not doing anything wrong. I don’t know why the brouhaha about it as if this is the first time Nasir El-Rufai visited or Segun Sowunmi, who happens to be a friend. We’ve been in this struggle for a better Nigeria, not to undermine Nigeria,” he said.