The lawmaker representing Nasarawa West in the National Assembly, Senator Ahmed Aliyu Wadada, has announced plans to resign from the Social Democratic Party (SDP), citing irreconcilable political differences with former Kaduna State governor, Nasir El-Rufai.
Speaking with journalists on Sunday in Keffi, the senator said he could no longer remain in the same political party with El-Rufai, whose recent entry into the SDP he described as “ideologically disturbing.”
“Even though Malam El-Rufai is my elder brother, I don’t think I can stay with him in the SDP because he is not a principled politician,” Wadada declared.
Wadada questioned El-Rufai’s political turnaround, recalling how the former governor championed power rotation to the South and threw his weight behind President Bola Tinubu’s emergence as the All Progressives Congress (APC) presidential flagbearer.
He wondered what had changed since then to warrant El-Rufai’s exit from the ruling party, suggesting the former minister was only acting out of frustration over not being appointed to Tinubu’s cabinet.
“What changed in President Tinubu between the time El-Rufai supported him and now that he has defected to the SDP?” he asked pointedly.
The lawmaker described the move as self-serving, saying it betrayed the kind of consistency expected of true public servants.
In contrast, Senator Wadada praised former APC National Chairman, Senator Abdullahi Adamu, for his unwavering commitment to party values even when his preferred presidential candidate, Senator Ahmad Lawan, lost the primaries.
“That’s the kind of politics I respect—principled, not opportunistic,” he said.
He emphasised that loyalty, integrity, and consistency are the cornerstones of good leadership and public trust.
Turning to national issues, Wadada admitted the country was going through economic hardship due to the removal of fuel subsidy, but expressed optimism about long-term gains.
He noted that the increased federal allocation to state governments had already started yielding visible improvements, especially in Nasarawa State.
“In Nasarawa State, the impact of the oil subsidy funds is visible everywhere—even to the most gullible and the blind,” he said.