President Bola Ahmed Tinubu could face a major political challenge as former Vice President Yemi Osinbajo and some ex-ministers from the former President Muhammadu Buhari administration are said to be planning to leave the All Progressives Congress (APC) for the Social Democratic Party (SDP).
This follows former Kaduna State Governor Nasir El-Rufai’s recent switch to the SDP.
Sources revealed that other key opposition figures, including Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) presidential candidate Atiku Abubakar and Labour Party (LP) candidate Peter Obi, are also considering joining the SDP to form a united front against the ruling party and Tinubu in the 2027 election.
According to The PUNCH, a senator in the ninth Assembly, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said at least 10 former members of the Buhari cabinet were moving to the SDP.
“What they’re waiting for is the finalisation of the party structure in their respective states,” the source said.
It was gathered that Buhari’s loyalists in the defections are the former National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress, Abdullahi Adamu; ex-Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami; and former Senate President, Ahmed Lawan.
Also, Pastor Tunde Bakare, who contested and lost to President Bola Tinubu in the All Progressives Congress (APC) presidential primary election, is among those planning to join the Social Democratic Party (SDP).
“Atiku, Peter Obi, Abubakar Malami, Pastor Tunde Bakare, and Prof. Yemi Osinbajo are all planning to join SDP in the coming days,” one of the sources disclosed. “Most of Buhari’s regime remnants are heading to SDP,” another source told Sahara Reporters.
El-Rufai defection to APC
El-Rufai officially resigned from the APC on Monday and announced his defection to the SDP. He has also instructed his political allies and supporters to follow him to the new party.
The former Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) cited a widening disconnect between his personal values and the APC’s current direction as the key reason for his departure.
El-Rufai, a founding member of the APC, accused the party’s leadership of abandoning the progressive ideals that guided its formation in 2013. He claimed that the party had been taken over by individuals who disregarded internal democracy and treated members with contempt.
Despite repeatedly raising concerns about the party’s decline both privately and publicly, El-Rufai said his warnings were ignored.
“On my part, I have raised concerns in private and, more recently, in public regarding the capricious trajectory of the party. Therefore, at this point in my political journey, I have come to the conclusion that I must seek another political platform for the pursuit of the progressive values I cherish,” he said.
El-Rufai, who served as governor of Kaduna from 2015 to 2023, said he had hoped that the APC would remain committed to the principles of good governance, democracy, and development.
However, he now believes the party has strayed and no longer represents the ideals of its founding fathers.
The former minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) recalled how he played a key role in securing electoral victories for the APC in 2015, 2019, and 2023, but expressed disappointment at how the party has been run in recent years.
“I, therefore, call on all our supporters and other persons concerned about our country’s future to join us in the SDP in the journey towards making Nigeria flourish as a beacon of pride for Africans and the Black Race,” he said.
CPC bloc to work against Tinubu
El-Rufai’s defection and Buhari’s purported approval opened a floodgate of defections as some other members of the APC in the North, especially those of CPC extraction, have also been dumping the party.
Buhari, El-Rufai, Malami, and Lawan were leaders of the Congress for Progress Change (CPC) until the party joined the Action Congress of Nigeria, a part of the All Progressives Grand Alliance, and members of the New Peoples Democratic Party to form the APC in 2013.
The former Kaduna governor’s statement also revealed the long-talked-about coalition involving some aggrieved leaders of the APC.
Following El-Rufai’s defection, a chieftain of the APC, Ahmad Kaita, who is a former senator, and member of the House of Representatives from Katsina, also joined the SDP.
Kaita is also a former member of the CPC.
Similarly, former Kaduna State commissioners for Agriculture, Ibrahim Hussaini; Justice, Aisha Dikko; Health, Amina Baloni; and Education, Halima Lawal; as well as former Head of Service, Hajiya Bari’atu Mohammed, also dumped the APC for the SDP.
Also, the Campaign Secretary of the APC in Gombe State during the 2015 general elections, Adamu Modibbo, has left the party. Modibbo is now the chairman of the SDP in the state.
A former Publicity Secretary of the APC in Borno State, Abdulaziz Galadima, while confirming his defection to the SDP to our correspondent, said he left the party because it deviated from the principles and ideology on which it was founded.
Galadima also confirmed that many original CPC members would leave the APC for “SDP or another party.”
Other politicians leaving
An off Malami, who spoke on condition of anonymity with a source, said, “It is not about ousting Tinubu in 2027 but about our conviction that we have better and more credible constitutional alternatives to offer Nigerians in governance, particularly with regard to institutionalising a human-centred approach to governance.
“We collectively abhor the prevailing order in which governance is commercialised to the detriment of Nigerians and their welfare. It seems to be a marriage of tendencies that cut across the existing political parties with high-profile politicians from PDP, defunct CPC, ACN and APC among others.
“In personality sense, those involved across the geographical zones include serving and former governors and senators, former ministers, and past and present party officials.”
The highly credible source mentioned former governors of Rivers, Imo, Cross Rivers, Sokoto and Osun states, Rotimi Amaechi, Emeka Ihedioha, Liyel Imoke, Aminu Tambuwal and Rauf Aregbesola, respectively, as part of the stakeholders in the coalition movement.
A former Senate President, David Mark; ex-national chairman of APC, Chief John Odigie-Oyegun; a former Buhari’s Minister of State for Education, Emeka Nwajiuba, and the senator representing Borno South, Ali Ndume, among others, were also involved in the coalition.
A chieftain of the APC in Imo State confirmed that the CPC extraction in the APC had concluded plans to leave the party for a coalition.
“That some ministers who served under Buhari are leaving or will leave the APC is confirmed. However, they may not join the SDP, but I know they are part of the coalition movement,” said the chieftain, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
According to him, no fewer than 10 ministers and many senators in the ninth National Assembly were leaving the APC.
He said, “President Tinubu has mismanaged the success of our party, and it is painful that things are going awry every day. APC bigwigs, both in the North and South, are not happy, and the President doesn’t care. You don’t grow by reducing in size. The APC is reducing in size.
“The CPC bloc of the party has also been leaving. You will agree with me that the CPC is a strong bloc in the APC, and if it is gone, I doubt if the APC will remain the same.
“Those leaving the APC are foundation members who have genuine followers. Apart from El-Rufai, other former governors are also involved in the political movement. These are not paperweight politicians.”
Similarly, a former Minister of Sports and Youth Development, Solomon Dalung, in an interview, said he was aware that many Nigerians, including former ministers, were involved in some political discussions.
Dalung, who left the APC for the SDP in 2022, said, “We are in discussions with many people across the country, including former ministers and senators. But because it is at the level of discussion, I will have to protect their identities.
“However, I can assure you that, from what is going on, a large number of the political class from across the political parties in Nigeria are coming together to have a common front.
“This problem Tinubu found himself in is self-inflicted. It is caused by his ego. He is an egoistic personality who sees himself as an emperor. He thinks he has conquered Nigeria. But I’m telling you that unless he changes his method of governance, we will soon know who Nigerians are.”
Dalung also accused President Tinubu of not treating Buhari fairly.
“The two of them aligned in 2014 to form the APC, which won the election. Buhari conceded the vice president to Tinubu and five other ministers, and he supported his presidential ambition.
“Currently, Tinubu cannot mention a single special adviser he considered for Buhari in his administration. The President is not treating Buhari fairly,” he added.
Aregbesola’s media adviser, Sola Fasure, declined to comment on the purported plan by the former Minister of Interior to join the SDP.
“We will talk about our political movement at the right time,” he said.
But one of Aregbesola’s loyalists, who also spoke on condition of anonymity with The PUNCH, said the former governor had been invited to join the SDP.
According to the insider, Aregbesola is part of a political movement involving some of his colleagues from the Buhari administration and other prominent politicians in the country.
He said, “I can’t confirm whether it is the SDP we are joining, but I know there is an ongoing political movement. Some ministers and former APC officials are involved.
“The movement is even bigger than any single political party. From my understanding, even if we join the SDP, the African Democratic Congress, or any other party, it will only serve as a structure. Eventually, all these smaller parties will collapse into a coalition in 2027. A coalition is the main game.”
Aregbesola’s group, Omoluabi Progressives, left the APC a few months ago, citing ostracism, suspension, and expulsion of members without fair hearing, as well as the perceived neglect and marginalisation of the group within the APC structure.
Peter Obi to join SDP
On Monday, El-Rufai’s son, Bashir, suggested that Peter Obi would join the SDP, following his father’s defection from the ruling APC.
Bashir dropped the hint while responding to a post on X (formerly Twitter) by a user, @Freedom42602077, who argued that the SDP would struggle to defeat the APC in the 2027 elections unless it aligned with Peter Obi.
“Bro to bro, if Peter Obi is not in that party, they can’t win presidential. APC will have it again!” the user wrote.
Reacting, Bashir El-Rufai simply replied: “He is coming.”
I am not leaving APC – Buhari
Meanwhile, Buhari has reiterated that he is a loyal member of the APC and would like to be addressed as such.
Buhari made the clarification in a statement on Thursday, signed by his spokesman, Garba Shehu.
It read in part: “Without referring to any individual, cast of characters, or issues, principles and ideals currently being discussed by Party leaders at various levels, former President Muhammadu Buhari has reiterated what he’s said times without number, that he is a member of the All Progressives Congress (APC) @OfficialAPCNg, and would like to be addressed as a loyal member of the party.
“He says he wants to leave no one in doubt that he would never turn his back on the Party that gave him two terms of office, and would do whatever he can to popularise it.
“I am an APC member and I like to be addressed as such. I will try to popularise the party by all means.”
