The former Governor of Kaduna State, Mallam Nasir El-Rufai, has resigned from the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) and officially joined the Social Democratic Party (SDP). It was learned that El-Rufai’s resignation letter has already been submitted to the APC leadership in his ward in Kaduna State.

He has also instructed his political allies and supporters to follow him to the SDP. The former Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) cited a widening disconnect between his personal values and the current direction of the APC as the primary reason for his defection. In a statement circulated online dated Monday, March 10, 2025, El-Rufai openly criticized the APC’s leadership, accusing the party of abandoning the progressive ideals upon which it was founded.

“Developments in the last two years confirm that there is no desire on the part of those who currently control and run the APC to acknowledge, much less address, the unhealthy situation of the party,” El-Rufai stated in his statement. He revealed that he had repeatedly raised concerns about the party’s trajectory both privately and publicly over the past two years, but his warnings were ignored by the APC leadership.

El-Rufai, who was instrumental in the 2013 merger of opposition parties that led to the formation of the APC, lamented that the party had lost its original vision. He recalled his contributions to APC’s victories in 2015, 2019, and 2023, as well as his tenure as Kaduna governor, during which he championed policies in education, healthcare, infrastructure, job creation, and investment. “My eight-year tenure in Kaduna State was devoted to implementing progressive policies to advance human development,” he said.

“These records count for little in the current APC that has castrated its organs and treated its membership with contempt in the last two years. I find this no longer acceptable,” he added. El-Rufai’s resignation comes amid his increasing criticism of the APC-led government of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu in a recent interview on Arise News TV. "Please don’t believe the story that the National Assembly rejected me. The National Assembly has nothing to do with it. The President did not want me in his cabinet," El-Rufai said. He claimed that despite his pivotal role in Tinubu’s election, he was deliberately sidelined, adding that the President had initially begged him publicly to serve in his government.

“Founders rightly feel attached to institutions they helped create, but one must be pragmatic enough to admit when a divergence becomes unbridgeable. I have diligently served the APC and contributed to its viability as a political platform but recognize that the party has strayed, leaving me stuck in the vision of its well-meaning founding fathers and mothers.

“As a loyal party man, I worked to help secure the APC’s election victories in 2015, 2019, and 2023. I was one of the many governors elected on the party’s platform in 2015 and 2019 who stood for democratic and progressive principles to advance nation-building. “My eight-year tenure in Kaduna State was devoted to implementing progressive policies to advance human development in education and healthcare, expand infrastructure, promote equality of opportunity, create jobs, and attract investments.