Buba Galadima, a chieftain of the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP), has accused former Kaduna State governor Nasir El-Rufai of being a placeholder for Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) ex-presidential candidate Atiku Abubakar within the Social Democratic Party (SDP).
Galadima made this claim during an interview with AIT. He questioned why Atiku would choose to collaborate with El-Rufai, given the latter’s past criticisms of the Vice President.
He further emphasised that El-Rufai holds no political significance, asserting that the planned SDP coalition is ineffective and amounts to mere noise. He said: “Did El-Rufai win one local government in Kaduna in 2020? He was a sitting governor in Kaduna when PDP won all three senatorial elections. He was a sitting governor in Kaduna when the PDP won 12 out of 14 House of Reps seats, and they won only one, while the other one was won by the Labour Party. That is, as a sitting governor. Now that he’s out and even fighting the governor from outside, how many votes do you think he can win?”
Galadima described the SDP coalition as powerless, with its actions being “mere noisemaking,” and labelled El-Rufai as a “placeholder” for Atiku within the SDP. He expressed surprise at Atiku’s willingness to cooperate with El-Rufai, recalling that El-Rufai had once advised Atiku to save his money for his children and claimed that Atiku would never become president.
Galadima continued, “The New Nigeria People’s Party (NNPP) would emerge as the larger vehicle to unite opposition parties in the 2027 presidential election.”
Following the announcement of the SDP coalition, which included Atiku, El-Rufai, and other prominent politicians, former SDP presidential candidate Adewale Adebayo stated that Atiku, Peter Obi, and other notable figures were in talks to join the party. Adebayo added that the coalition’s goal was to take power from President Bola Tinubu in 2027.
