WATCH THE VIDEO HERE Among those in attendance were former Kaduna State Governor Nasir El-Rufai, former Chief Security Officer to the late General Sani Abacha, Major Hamza Al-Mustapha, and a former spokesperson for Atiku Abubakar, Segun Showunmi. While the agenda of the meeting remains undisclosed, Showunmi confirmed the gathering in a Facebook post. “You must set forth at dawn! A strategic meeting was called by HE Shehu Gabam, Chairman of SDP, with HE Nasir El-Rufai, Major Hamza Al-Mustapha, and Otunba Segun Showunmi. The alternative to meet, greet, and review the state of opposition democratic engagement in Nigeria,” he wrote. This development comes in the wake of speculation about El-Rufai’s political allegiance. Rumours suggested that the former Kaduna governor had defected from the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) to the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). El-Rufai, however, dismissed the claims on his verified X account, describing them as “patent lies.” He announced that legal action would be taken against those propagating the false reports. “Please disregard the patent lies and rumours about my political affiliation. I have referred the lead peddlers of the fake news for further action by my lawyers,” El-Rufai posted on Sunday. Naijaonpoint recalls that a close associate of the former governor, who chose to remain anonymous, also refuted the claims, describing them as the work of mischief-makers. The associate stressed that El-Rufai, a prominent figure in the APC, would not defect to the PDP without a formal announcement.
A closed-door meeting involving several prominent opposition figures and officials of the Social Democratic Party (SDP) took place on Tuesday at the party’s national secretariat in Abuja.