Former governor of Jigawa State, Alhaji Sule Lamido, criticised the call by immediate past governor of Kaduna State, Malam Nasir El-Rufai, for the unseating of President Bola Tinubu in 2027, saying it is based on personal grievances.
Lamido said national interest should be the overriding consideration in such political discussions.
El-Rufai, who recently defected from the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) to Social Democratic Party (SDP), had in an interview on Saturday, with the BBC Hausa service, called on opposition politicians to join SDP to defeat Tinubu in 2027.
“My wish and prayers are that Atiku Abubakar, Peter Obi, Rotimi Amaechi, Rauf Aregbesola, and all opposition leaders should come and join SDP, not to do a merger or to register a new political party,” El-Rufai said.
However, speaking also with the same BBC Hausa, on Sunday, Lamido, said, “Leadership is about patience, foresight, and working for the peace of the people and the nation. If you allow emotions to dictate your decisions, you will never lead objectively.”
The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) chieftain maintained, “If El-Rufai’s goal is to unseat President Bola Tinubu, it should not be based on personal grievances but on national interest.
“We should not fight Tinubu just because we are angry at him or seeking revenge. Leadership should be about prioritising the country’s wellbeing rather than personal emotions.”
Lamido called on politicians to focus on strengthening the country rather than making decisions based on resentment.
He said El-Rufai’s “political foundation and whatever he has achieved today was made possible by the PDP”.
Lamido questioned El-Rufai’s political ideology and commitment to national development.
He stated, “With all due respect, how does he expect us in PDP to leave and join another party? The PDP that we built is the same party that made him who he is today. How can a grandson claim his grandfather knows nothing?”
He recalled that El-Rufai once declared that there were no political elders in Nigeria, and maintained that he and his allies were the true power brokers.
Lamido said, despite PDP’s internal challenges, it remained his political home.
“If PDP is struggling today, it is still the party that nurtured El-Rufai. If he claims PDP is dead, then he must remember that it is the party that gave him his political foundation. Whatever he has achieved today, PDP made it possible,” he said.
Lamido explained that if he had any intention of leaving PDP, he would have done so in 2014, when APC was formed.
“If I didn’t join APC in 2014, when I was invited, and they left PDP out of anger, why are they now leaving APC? What has APC done to them?” he asked.
