Buhari speaks on leaving APC after El-Rufai claims

Immediate erstwhile president of Nigeria, Muhammadu Buhari has said he remains a committed member of the All Progressives Congress (APC).

In a statement on Thursday, Garba Shehu, the former president’s spokesperson, said he would never turn his back on the ruling party that gave him the platform to become the country’s president.

“I am an APC member, and I like to be addressed as such. I will try to popularise the party by all means,” Shehu quoted Buhari in the statement.

“Without referring to any individual, a cast of characters, or issues, principles and ideals currently being discussed by party leaders at various levels, the former president, Muhammadu Buhari has reiterated what he said times without number that he is a member of the All Progressives Congress, APC, and would like to be addressed as a loyal member of the party,” the statement reads.

“He says he wants to leave no one in doubt that he would never turn his back on the party that gave him two terms of office and would do whatever he can to popularize it.”

Shehu said Buhari “has nothing but gratitude for the support that the party gave him before and during his tenure as president, which he considers as the highest honour, and would never ask for anything more”.

The statement comes hours after Nasir el-Rufai, former governor of Kaduna, said he consulted Buhari before resigning from his membership in the APC.

On Monday, El-Rufai announced that he had joined the Social Democratic Party (SDP).

Speaking in an interview on BBC Hausa, el-Rufai said he does not make a major decision without first consulting Buhari.

“There are certain people that before I do any major thing or make any decision I consult, and anything they ask me not to do, I don’t do, and former President Muhammadu Buhari is among them,” El-Rufai said in Hausa.

Meanwhile, El-Rufai has raised an alarm over the alleged abduction of Jafaru Sani, a former Commissioner in his government.

In a post published via X on Thursday, El-Rufai alleged that the ex-commissioner was abducted by a group he described as a “police kidnapping gang” linked to Uba Sani, the governor of Kaduna.

The former governor claimed that Jafaru was “remanded in prison custody by a magistrate without any police first information report or charges by the state ministry of justice”.

“Our colleague and versatile former commissioner during the El-Rufai Administration, Mallam Jafaru Sani, has been abducted in Kaduna by Uba Sani’s kidnapping gang claiming to be the police this afternoon,” the post reads.

“Jafaru was remanded in prison custody by a magistrate without any police first information report or charges by the State Ministry of Justice.

“On inquiry, we have learned that Jafaru is being charged with money laundering—a federal offense that neither the State Judiciary nor even the Police have jurisdiction to adjudicate or investigate.

“Jafaru’s real crime is his resignation from the APC and joining the SDP—and having been proposed by me as the replacement ministerial nominee representing Kaduna State in August 2023.

“The tactics are similar to those used against another colleague of ours – Bashir Saidu when he was abducted on the 31st of December 2024 and kept in captivity for 50 days before he was released on bail!

“The ignominious role of some henpecked and compromised magistrates and high court judges in the Kaduna State judiciary remains a source of great concern to us.

“We are watching and waiting as no condition is permanent, and there will be accountability for all decisions and actions, one day, soon.”