Ikeja, Lagos - Joe Igbokwe, a chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC), has claimed that the Social Democratic Party (SDP) was under the control of President Bola Tinubu, who doubled as the leader of the APC.

Igbokwe claimed this in a covert reaction to Nasir El-Rufai, the immediate past governor of Kaduna state, defection from the APC to the SDP. El-Rufai, a one-time minister of the Federal Capital Territory, has made several outbursts against the ruling party and its leadership.

The former governor had complained of lack of internal democracy within the APC and alleged that the party has become a one-man show. He had wondered why the party did not hold the National Executive Council (NEC) meeting for two years.

El-Rufai also alleged that the APC and President Bola Tinubu's administration have deviated from the core values in which the party was founded. He further accused the president of deliberately removing him from the ministerial list and dismissed the report that his ministerial nomination was rejected because of a security report with the Department of State Service (DSS).

Following several outbursts, the former governor dumped the party and joined the SDP, just a day after he held a meeting with the two-time governor of Osun and ex-minister of interior, Rauf Aregbesola. He also met with another founding member of the APC, Pastor Tunde Bakare.

In his reaction to the development, Igbokwe, in a series of messages on his Facebook page, was of the view that any politician planning to contest against President Tinubu in the 2027 presidential election, should be informed that the president has the control of the party.

One of his posts reads:

“If indeed SDP is still alive and kicking in Nigeria, then know the truth and have inner peace: PBAT (President Bola Ahmed Tinubu) is the owner. Ignore him to your own peril.”

Igbokwe, a one-time spokesperson of the Lagos APC, recalled that the SDP was a popular political party in the 1993 presidential election. He recalled that the late Chief MKO Abiola contested under the SDP in 1993.

In another Facebook post, the APC chieftain explained that Tinubu served as a senator under the SDP in 1993. He said "Go and investigate and verify. He is the owner of SDP.”

See Igbokwe's post here:

Legit.ng earlier reported that Nasir El-Rufai, the immediate past governor of Kaduna state, who dumped the APC for the SDP, has continued to generate reactions from stakeholders.

Shehu Sani, a former Kaduna Central senatorial district senator, expressed the confidence that his defection was a good riddance.

According to Sani, El-Rufai's defection has no political relevance on the APC and the ruling party is confident of securing victory in the state.

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Source: Legit.ng