Bello El-Rufai’s defection: What went wrong?

Five members of the House of Representatives on Thursday announced their defection from the All Progressives Congress (APC), Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and African Democratic Congress (ADC) to other political parties. Among those who defected was Bello El-Rufai, son of former Kaduna State governor, Nasir El-Rufai, who moved from the APC to the ADC. His […]

Five members of the House of Representatives on Thursday announced their defection from the All Progressives Congress (APC), Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and African Democratic Congress (ADC) to other political parties.

Among those who defected was Bello El-Rufai, son of former Kaduna State governor, Nasir El-Rufai, who moved from the APC to the ADC.

His defection came as a surprise because all the while, he has managed the rift between his father, former governor, Nasir El-Rufai and his successor, Gov Uba Sani.

Initially when the rift between  El-Rufai and Gov Sani occurred, Bello, refused to take sides in the matter saying it is not in his place to mediate between them.

He even expressed surprise that people expected him to speak on the matter saying “It is not my job. My job is to focus on helping the people of Kaduna north constituency.”

Pressed further, he said, “I like peace and maintaining trust. For me, there is no one who is better than Mallam Nasiru politically. He only puts his work first and there is no one I want to be like him. He is my father, a father is said that the rift between his father and Sani is not as serious as reported, suggesting that it may have been exaggerated.

“It is not pleasant for us, even if someone is my enemy, I do not like to see him fighting another enemy. I want peace,” he said.

Thursday’s defection by Bello comes as totally different from his earlier posture as it indicates that he has finally taken sides with his father rather than the governor.

Further to that, the defection has shown that the attempt to paper over the cracks in the El-Rufai political family has not worked and that the younger El-Rufai must have seen that there’s no hope for him the APC ticket hence decided to quit the APC before it is too late for him to defect.

Our correspondents report that the APC closed the sale of its forms yesterday while the window given to political parties to submit the register of their members expires on Sunday 10th.

Analysts say the younger El-Rufai’s earlier position is understandable as it was Gov Sani that paved the way for his political ascendancy when he appointed him his senior Legislative Aide, SLA, then encouraged him to contest the House of Representatives seat.

The younger El-Rufai was elected to represent Kaduna North Federal Constituency in 2023 and has remained with the party even when his father defected from the APC to the Social Democratic Party (SDP) and later to the African Democratic Congress (ADC).

He wants to re contest for the House of Representatives seat for Kaduna North federal constituency in 2027.

He declared on his verified X handle that, “I am now a member of the ADC, and I will be seeking re-election to continue representing the good people of Kaduna North Federal Constituency on this platform,” he said.

He described the move as a carefully considered decision, adding that he remained committed to delivering quality representation to his constituents.

“As a proud son of Mallam Nasir El-Rufai, I am guided by courage, conviction, and the unshakable belief that our people deserve the very best,” he stated.

The lawmaker also announced plans to inaugurate an ad hoc committee for a Primary Health Care initiative recently unveiled in his constituency.

 

What went wrong?

Our correspondent found out that many factors compelled Bello to defect ahead of time which include the fact that signals have emerged that he wont be the consensus candidate for the APC ticket in Kaduna North federal constituency.

Sources in the party said Bello came to that conclusion when those favoured by the current administration were given their forms in Kaduna while others are expected to procure their forms at the national secretariat.

“Immediately it became clear that they had given the form in the state to another, others got the signal on where they stand and decided to leave,” the source stated.

One of the aspirants, Abdulazeez Kaka is also known to be close to Seyi Tinubu, son of President Tinubu and is believed to have the backing of Abuja to be given the APC ticket.

Another thing is that Bello’s father, has remained an unapologetic and active member of the opposition.

Abdulazeez Kaka is making waves in Kaduna politics with his impactful initiatives. As the chairman of the APC Youth Stakeholders Forum, he’s empowered over 5,000 youths statewide through skills training programs, covering sectors like tailoring, digital marketing, and entrepreneurship. His Kowa Namu Ne Foundation has also provided financial support to 1,500 women and distributed food aid to 1,000 indigent

Some of his notable initiatives include skills training, providing cash grants and nano-empowerment packages to small business owners.

But the person said to be favoured by the state government is Samaila Suleiman who  recently resigned as Gov Sani’s aide.

He is said to be favoured because he ran against Elrufai’s son on 2023 and has shown great capacity to defeat him then.

A source from the government house told Daily Trust that Bello El’rufai probably left the party because of his father . He must have decided to go to ADC as a way of showing solidarity to his father who has rift with the current governor.

In the past the young man sees the governor Uba as a mentor but due to the perceived mis understanding with his father he decided to join his father in the new party.

The source denied the allegations that Bello was forced to leave the party. “ He was not forced to leave maybe he left because he suspected that he will not get the APC ticket and also as a form of solidarity he joined ADC,” he said.

Ironically, sources had it that when El-rufai was trying to decide whom to choose as his successor, it was the members of his family that put pressure on him to anoint Uba San while his earlier preference was for a younger person.

 

How the rift started

The problem between El-rufai and Uba Sani first reared its head when Uba Sani’s administration launched an investigation into the alleged mismanagement of funds during El-Rufai’s tenure in June 2024, the Kaduna State House of Assembly recommended the probe of el-Rufai over allegations of public funds diversion and money laundering while his former cabinet members were charged to court over alleged corruption.

The investigation led to the questioning and detention of some former officials, sparking a public feud between the two politicians.

Murtala Abubakar a Kaduna based political analyst said all along, there were expectations of Bello El-Rufai using his position to reconcile the incumbent governor of Kaduna State and his father.

“So, by his defection to another political party to go and seek re-election, abandoning the party that brought him to the National Assembly, and abandoning the claim that he was going to remain with Uba Sani as his mentor, it is not so.”

He said taking into cognizance some of his speeches where he said that, as the son of his father, if today his father asked him to leave the party, he would willingly oblige  what we have just seen is an indication of the total collapse of any hope that there is going to be reconciliation between Uba Sani, Nasir El-Rufai, and the All Progressives Congress (APC)

He said, “Well, you must understand that Bello, on his own, does not have the political ground to even win the election in the first place. It was because of the influence and the position of his father that gave him the head start.

“So, of course, he has the right to belong to any political party. But why I insist that all along he remained in the APC, despite the apparent fact that his father has been persecuted by that same political party, is largely because of the hope that along the line, something would come up and they would reconcile. And he would remain and continue to represent the APC at the National Assembly under the APC platform.”

This to many analysts indicates that the El-Rufai/ Uba Sani rift has reached an irreconcilable level and the effect is bound to show in the next elections as the former governor also has his supporters in the state.

 

Those that defected in the House

Two PDP lawmakers from Kaduna State — Umar Ajilo and Suleiman Yahaya Richifa also defected

Speaker of the House of Representatives, Abbas Tajudeen also announced the defection of Kamilu Ado from Kano State from the ADC to the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC).

Similarly, Joshua Obika, representing AMAC/Bwari Federal Constituency of the Federal Capital Territory, resigned from the APC and joined the NDC.

The lawmakers, in their separate letters, attributed their defections to unresolved internal disputes and uncertainties within their former political parties.