Nasir El-Rufai has stated that he did not leave the All Progressives Congress; rather, it was the party that dumped him.
The former Kaduna governor continues to make news headlines following his defection to the Social Democratic Party (SDP) and has criticised his former party while sharing insight on his reason for leaving.
According to El-Rufai, the APC has derailed as it no longer abides by its founding principles.
He alleged that party members work for themselves while looking solely for money and that everything has a price tag.
“The APC has derailed, the party is no longer abiding by its founding principles. Everyone is working for himself, looking for money. The government is commercialised; everything has a price tag.
“Justice has been kept at bay; those who worked for the party were ignored instead of being compensated. If there is any position or appointment, they give it to a Lagos boy, etc.
“That is why we’ve been speaking, we spoke, we said this is not the party we know. The party is dead. I said the only option is for me to meet Pastor Tunde Bakare because he dragged me into APC. He took me to Buhari.
“I did not join the APC because of Buhari, it was Pastor Bakare who dragged me to APC and courtesy demands I should let him know.
“Buhari too, I told him I was leaving the party, I sought his blessings and prayers. He said he has given me his blessings and prayers.
“We are the ones in politics, he (Buhari) is now father of the land and has been praying for us, so what remains?
“I’ve publicly denounced my membership of the party, they can go and hold on to the party, they can eat the party alone like food, we’ve given up,” he stated.
Responding to whether he left the APC to avoid expulsion, El-Rufai said, “That would’ve been much easier for me, but look at it, as I kept on saying, I did not leave the party, it’s the party that dumped me.
“Why did it leave me? First of all, I was marginalized, not involved in all party activities. Not that I was invited and refused to honour the invite, I was completely sidelined.
“Secondly, what we had planned to implement when we form government, it’s not what’s being implemented.”
