The National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Alhaji Umar Ganduje, yesterday welcomed the 2023 Vice Presidential candidate of the Social Democratic Party (SDP), Yusuf Buhari, alongside the party’s Kano State governorship candidate, Bala Mohammed Gwagwarawa, into the ruling party.
The high-profile defection, facilitated by the Deputy President of the Senate, Barau Jibrin, also saw the Kano State SDP Working Committee, 38 local government party chairmen and secretaries, 13 House of Assembly candidates, and six House of Representatives candidates embrace the APC.
Speaking at the event in Abuja, Ganduje and Barau described the mass defection as a blow to attempts to position the SDP as a formidable opposition party ahead of the 2027 general elections.
They asserted that the movement to challenge the APC using the SDP had collapsed.
The move was widely interpreted as a setback for former Kaduna State Governor, Nasir El-Rufai, who recently joined the SDP in what was seen as a strategic realignment ahead of the next election cycle.
Addressing the defectors, Ganduje, represented by the Deputy National Chairman (South), Chief Emma Eneukwu, assured them of equal rights and privileges in the APC.
He described the move as a transition “from darkness to light.”
“Those who have been trying to build a platform to challenge the APC in the next election can now see that their idea is dead on arrival.
“To make matters worse for them, even those already in the party are now leaving for the APC. The SDP is going to be empty,” Barau said.
Senator Kabiru Gaya echoed similar sentiments, declaring that the SDP had already collapsed before El-Rufai’s arrival.
“The party is dead because its Vice Presidential candidate is here, its Kano governorship candidate is here, and all its major stakeholders are here. Today, we are celebrating the burial of that party,” he said.
Speaking on behalf of the defectors, Yusuf Buhari stated that they were motivated to join the APC due to the progress recorded under President Tinubu’s administration.
“When this government came into power, there were a lot of problems on the ground. But the fact is that things are now taking shape under President Bola Ahmed Tinubu,” Buhari said.
Similarly, Bala Muhammad Gwagwarawa, former SDP gubernatorial candidate in Kano, said they returned to the APC due to the party’s leadership and direction.
“APC is a family to me. I was part of its founding. Today, we are returning because the country is being governed by someone who understands politics and democracy,” he said.