El-Rufai’s ex-ally dumps ADC for APC

A former Kaduna State Commissioner for Finance, Muhammad Bashir Sa’idu, has dumped the African Democratic Congress for the All Progressives Congress (APC), alleging that a family had taken control of the opposition party.

Sa’idu, a former ally and Chief of Staff to ex-Governor Nasir El-Rufai, declared that the ADC no longer had a credible opposition structure in Kaduna after his group’s departure.

He spoke on Saturday in Zaria at a ceremony to receive him, former ADC governorship aspirant Jafaru Sani, former Senator Suleiman Abdu Kwari and other defectors into the APC.

Sa’idu claimed that more than 200,000 card-carrying ADC members had moved to the ruling party with his group.

He said Kaduna De-Initiatives, the group he led, built the ADC’s structures from ward to state level but decided to leave after individuals who joined later allegedly hijacked the party.

“We built ADC with our strength, sweat and blood, but unfortunately, a few individuals who later joined the party hijacked it. We discovered that the party was being teleguided by a family, a situation which we found unacceptable,” he said.

Sa’idu did not identify the family.

He said the group compared candidates who emerged from the ADC primaries with their APC counterparts before convening an emergency steering committee meeting and resolving to return to the ruling party.

“We have returned home. As of one month ago, the number of card-carrying ADC members who defected with us was about 100,000. Between then and now, over 100,000 more defectors have also joined the APC,” he claimed.

Sa’idu dismissed the ADC’s chances in the 2027 elections, predicting that it would finish a distant third.

“There is not a single bona fide politician remaining in the ADC. There is now no opposition in Kaduna State because we were the opposition,” he said.

Welcoming the defectors, Governor Uba Sani described their return as a major political development and praised Sa’idu as principled and trustworthy.

“He is a man of the people, and even when he went to the ADC, we were confident that he would return home. He stands for justice. Jafaru Sani is also someone who can be trusted and is a seasoned public servant,” the governor said.

Sani assured the returning members of equal treatment, saying their date of entry would not determine their standing in the party.

“The person who joins today, the one who joined yesterday and the one who will join tomorrow, we are all one,” he said.

He added that no member, including himself, House of Representatives Speaker Tajudeen Abbas and APC North-West Zonal Vice-Chairman Garba Datti Babawo, was more important than another.

The governor also raised the APC’s projected vote target in Kaduna from two million to three million ahead of the 2027 elections.

“Before now, we were promising to deliver two million votes, but we have now upgraded to three million votes, God willing. There are 4.6 million registered voters in Kaduna State, and 96 per cent have received their Permanent Voter Cards,” he said.

Sani said the APC would undertake house-to-house campaigns for President Bola Tinubu and other party candidates.

He urged residents to support Tinubu’s re-election, citing Federal Government projects and appointments given to Kaduna indigenes.