…When Malam Nasir elrufai visited Gabam the next day, he was merely returning a visit to a friend who happens to be SDP chairman – Aide
…Ex-governor El-Rufai’s visit had nothing to do with the 2027 general election – SDP Secretary
The Periscope Global
The immediate-past governor of Kaduna State, Malam Nasir El-Rufai, has on Wednesday, visited the national secretariat of the opposition Social Democratic Party (SDP) in Abuja, which political pundits pointed out was part of the consultative visits ahead of the 2027 general election.
The former Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), who is a chieftain of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), was seen in a viral video on social media paying a visit to the national chairman of the SDP, Alhaji Shehu Musa Gabam.
According to a source privy to the meeting, Gabam described El-Rufa’i as a friend with a high political pedigree and added that Nigeria needed transformational leaders like him.
The source further added that Gabam appreciated his guest and his entourage for the visit, saying that, “it’s time for all stakeholders in the country to put aside ethnic, regional and political differences to move the country forward more especially at this period when the country is facing serious challenges ranging from hunger, insecurity, joblessness, kidnapping, inflation among others.”
El-Rufa’i was received by the members of the National Working Committee (NWC) of party.
Recall that El-Rufai has been paying consultation visits to some notable politicians across political divides in recent times.
There was a mild drama at the tail-end of the meeting shortly after a photo session when someone was heaed cautioning those taking photographs against leaking the photo of the visit on social media, but El-Rufa’i quickly responded, saying ‘I don’t care’.
However, the spokesperson for a former governor of Kaduna State, Nasir el-Rufai, Muyiwa Adekeye said the visit by his principal to the SDP headquarters in Abuja was without any political colouration.
Mr Adekeye, in a post on X, said Mr el-Rufai merely paid a visit to the National Chairman of SDP, Shehu Gabam, who is his (el-Rufai) friend.
He explained that Mr Gaban was at the home of the former governor the previous day and that the latter was only returning the visit.
“When Malam Nasir elrufai visited Gabam the next day, he was merely returning a visit to a friend who happens to be SDP chairman,” the post reads in part
The National Secretary of the Social Democratic Party, Dr Olu Agunloye also said that the visit of former Kaduna State governor, Nasir El-Rufai, to the Abuja National Secretariat of the party is not political.