Former Kaduna State Governor Malam Nasir El-Rufai formally joined the African Democratic Congress (ADC) this week, announcing that he and former Labour Party presidential candidate Peter Obi are now leaving their respective previous parties to consolidate an opposition coalition ahead of the 2027 general elections.
Speaking at his ADC registration event, El-Rufai detailed a joint strategy with Obi that saw them temporarily remain in the Social Democratic Party (SDP) and the Labour Party (LP), respectively, until regional polls were concluded.
“Accordingly, Mr. Peter [Obi] and I requested the indulgence of the coalition to allow us to remain in our respective parties until the conclusion of these by-elections and out-of-season elections,” El-Rufai stated.
He confirmed that this period is now over, paving the way for the realignment. “I’m happy to announce that as at last week, all these elections have been concluded and for that reason, we have no reason any longer to remain in the SDP (Social Democratic Party) or the Labour Party,” he asserted.
The former Governor, who had initially joined the SDP after leaving the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) in March 2025, explained that the coalition was forced to adopt the ADC after the SDP proved unwilling to “open up for the coalition leadership.”
El-Rufai was unequivocal about the coalition’s objective, aiming to replicate the political victory achieved in 2015 that unseated the then-ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
“By the grace of God, along with other partners, we are going to repeat what we did in 2015 when we got rid of the incompetent thieving, stealing and the corrupt PDP administration,” he vowed.
The political move signals a focused consolidation effort to challenge President Bola Tinubu and the APC in the upcoming national polls. El-Rufai also took the opportunity to sharply criticize the current administration in his home state of Kaduna, claiming it is “led by people that have no name, no address, no surname to protect and therefore they think the purpose of being in government is to steal and divert public funds.”
