Former El-Rufai ally, others defect to APC in Kaduna

Former Kaduna State Commissioner of Finance and ex-ally of former Governor Nasir El-Rufai, Muhammad Bashir Sa’idu (middle), during his defection with his supporters in Zaria on Saturday. Credit: Gov. Uba Sani's Facebook.

A former Kaduna State Commissioner for Finance and ex-ally of former Governor Nasir El-Rufai, Muhammad Sa’idu, has declared the African Democratic Congress dead in the state following his defection to the All Progressives Congress with thousands of supporters.

Sa’idu made the declaration on Saturday in Zaria at a ceremony organised to receive him and other ADC defectors into the APC, claiming that more than 200,000 card-carrying members had joined the ruling party.

The former commissioner, who served as Chief of Staff under El-Rufai, defected alongside a former ADC governorship aspirant, Jafaru Sani, and former Senator Suleiman Abdu Kwari, among other political figures.

Sa’idu said his group, Kaduna De-Initiatives, had built the ADC’s structure from the ward to the state level but was forced to leave after some individuals 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. So, we studied the situation and compared the list of ADC candidates that won the primaries with those of the APC. We saw that there was no basis for comparison; the contrast between the ADC and APC candidates is very glaring”, he stated.

Sa’idu said the group subsequently convened an emergency meeting of its steering committee and resolved to return to the APC, insisting that they had helped build the party before leaving for the ADC.

“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.

He further declared that the ADC no longer had any credible political figures in Kaduna State, insisting that the defectors had constituted the opposition.

“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,” the former commissioner said.

He predicted that the ADC would finish a distant third in the 2027 elections when the results were announced.

• Kogi LG poll: APC wins all 21 chairmanships, 239 council seats
• 2027: Kwankwaso says NDC won’t withdraw for ADC, other parties
• Sokoto defends Tinubu’s INEC nominee, insists appointment on merit, not family ties

Welcoming the defectors, Kaduna State Governor Uba Sani described their return to the APC as a major political development for the state and the country.

The governor described Sa’idu as a principled and trustworthy politician who remained committed to his decisions, adding that he had always believed the former commissioner would return to the APC.

“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,” Sani said.

The governor also assured the new members that the APC offered equal opportunities, irrespective of when they joined 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.

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

He said every member had the right to aspire to any position within the party.

The governor disclosed that the APC had increased its projected vote target in Kaduna State from two million to three million ahead of the 2027 general 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 party would embark on house-to-house campaigns across the state to mobilise support for President Bola Tinubu and other APC candidates.

He urged residents to support the APC at all levels, citing Federal Government projects and political appointments given to indigenes of the state as reasons for backing the President’s re-election bid.