El-Rufai holds ‘strategic meeting’ with Abacha’s man, Al-Mustapha, SDP Chairman, others

Former Kaduna State Governor Nasir El-Rufai, ex-Chief Security Officer to late General Sani Abacha, Major Hamza Al-Mustapha, Social Democratic Party (SDP) Chairman Shehu Gabam, and Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) chieftain Segun Sowunmi convened a strategic meeting on Tuesday.

The meeting focused on reviewing the state of opposition democratic engagement in Nigeria.

Sharing details on his X (formerly Twitter) account, Sowunmi wrote:
“You must set forth at dawn, a strategic meeting called by HE Shehu Gabam, Chairman of SDP, with HE @elrufai, Major Hamza Al-Mustapha, and Otunba Segun Sowunmi. The alternative, to meet and greet and review the state of opposition democratic engagement in Nigeria.”

The meeting comes amid speculation about El-Rufai’s political affiliations. Recently, rumours circulated that the former governor was considering defecting from the All Progressives Congress (APC) to the PDP.

El-Rufai has, however, strongly denied these claims. Responding to the rumours, he wrote:
“Please disregard the patent lies and rumours about my political affiliation. I have referred the leading peddlers of the fake news for further action by my lawyers.”

This is not the first time El-Rufai has addressed such speculations. In 2022, Daniel Bwala, a presidential spokesperson, suggested that El-Rufai might join the PDP before the 2023 general elections. The former governor dismissed the claim, responding on X:
“Thanks @BwalaDaniel, but no thanks. Never ever—not even my corpse will be found in the vicinity of your newfound political party. I still dey laugh.”