PDP made me’, Ex-Gov, Sule Lamido responds to El-Rufai’s call to Join SDP

Former Jigawa State Governor and Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) chieftain, Sule Lamido, has dismissed a call by ex-Kaduna State Governor Nasir El-Rufai urging opposition leaders to join the Social Democratic Party (SDP).

El-Rufai, who recently announced his defection from the All Progressives Congress (APC) to the SDP, made the appeal in an interview with BBC Hausa. He invited key political figures, including Atiku Abubakar, Peter Obi, Rotimi Amaechi, and Rauf Aregbesola, to join him in the SDP, though he did not mention Lamido by name.

However, in a separate BBC Hausa interview on Sunday, Lamido rejected the invitation, calling it an insult. He insisted that the PDP, which he helped build, was the foundation of El-Rufai’s political career.

“The party we formed, the PDP, is the one that gave birth to El-Rufai. You’re not enough to make us leave the PDP,” Lamido said.

He also criticised El-Rufai’s past statements, recalling that the former governor once claimed that Nigeria lacked mature politicians, yet was now calling on experienced leaders to join his new party.

Lamido questioned El-Rufai’s reasons for defecting from the APC, stating, “He said he told President Buhari about his decision to leave the APC, but now he is saying that he is one of the adults in Nigerian politics.”

The former governor reaffirmed his loyalty to the PDP, arguing that the party had not done anything to warrant his defection. “If I was going to leave the PDP, I would have done so in 2014 when the APC was formed,” he stated.

Lamido also criticised El-Rufai’s leadership style, saying leadership requires patience and vision, not anger or selfish ambition.

“Leadership is done with patience and vision, and doing things for the peace of the followers and the country as a whole,” he said.

He advised El-Rufai to prioritise patriotism instead of acting out of anger towards others. “What should be done is to put patriotism first, instead of showing anger towards someone,” he added.

Lamido further noted that the PDP has been working to rebuild itself since losing the 2015 presidential election.