Former Jigawa State Governor and Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) chieftain, Sule Lamido, has dismissed a call by former Kaduna State Governor, Nasir El-Rufai, urging opposition leaders to join the Social Democratic Party (SDP).
Mallam El-Rufai, who recently announced his defection from the All Progressives Congress (APC) to the SDP, made the call in an interview with BBC Hausa.
While he did not mention Alhaji Lamido by name, he invited key opposition figures, including Atiku Abubakar, Peter Obi, Rotimi Amaechi, and Rauf Aregbesola, to join him in the SDP.
Responding in a separate BBC Hausa interview on yesterday, Alhaji Lamido dismissed the invitation as an insult, insisting that the PDP, which he helped build, laid the foundation for Mallam El-Rufai’s political career.
“The party we formed, the PDP, is the one that gave birth to El-Rufai.
“You’re not enough to make us leave the PDP,” Alhaji Lamido said.
He added, “He once said that there are no adults in Nigeria in politics, but now he is calling on us to join him in the SDP.”
The former governor also questioned Mallam El-Rufai’s motives for defecting from the APC to the SDP.
“He said he told President Buhari about his decision to leave the APC, but now he is saying that he is one of the adults in Nigerian politics,” Lamido stated.
The former governor argued that the PDP had not done anything to warrant his defection, emphasizing his long-standing loyalty.
“If I was going to leave the PDP, I would have done so in 2014 when the APC was formed,” he said.
The former governor also criticised Mallam El-Rufai’s leadership style, saying that leadership is not about anger or selfish ambition.
“Leadership is done with patience and vision, and doing things for the peace of the followers and the country as a whole,” Alhaji Lamido said.
Alhaji Lamido advised Mallam El-Rufai to put patriotism first instead of showing anger towards others, saying, “What should be done is to put patriotism first, instead of showing anger towards someone.”
He added, “The PDP has been working to rebuild its strength after losing the 2015 presidential election.”

Elder statesman and First Republic politician, Alhaji Tanko Yakasai, has lauded Nigerians for their continued support and prayers for the success of President Bola Tinubu’s administration.
Speaking to reporters yesterday in Kano, Alhaji Yakasai held that the steady progress and concrete achievements recorded by the administration were a vindication of the trust reposed in them by Nigerians.
“From some of the reports I received, the prices of basic foodstuffs have been coming down. Unlike what it was before now, families can now afford to buy basic food items such as rice, beans, maize, sorghum, and other eatables needed to feed their homes,” he declared.
“I was also made to understand that the cost of petrol at filling stations has been coming down. In some places, I was told that they now sell petrol for about ?850 per litre instead of ?1,150 in the recent past. This is good for the cost of transportation and movement of Nigerians from place to place,” he stated.
The elder statesman, who supported the Tinubu-for-President project in 2023, urged Northerners to rally around the present administration while insisting that the North was not left out in the scheme of things under the current leadership, contrary to views being held in some quarters.
The former Adviser to President Shehu Shagari and one-time National Publicity Secretary of the Northern Elements Progressive Union (NEPU) also insisted that the administration’s best was yet to come, as it had lined up many developmental and people-friendly policies and programmes for the benefit of Nigerians and the North.
He enjoined Nigerians, especially the political class, to continue to contribute their quota to good governance through informed criticism and well-placed political engagements, all of which, he added, would strengthen the nation’s fledgling democracy and enrich the democratic process.
Alhaji Yakasai also used the occasion to extend his deepest condolences to the families of the late Chief Ayo Adebanjo and the late Chief Edwin Clark, as well as to the entire people of the South-West and South-South regions, over their irreplaceable losses.
He said that the passing of these two great and patriotic Nigerians, who happened to be his political associates and personal friends, was a big loss to all Nigerians while praying to Allah to forgive their sins and grant them eternal rest.

Speaker of the House of Representatives, Rt. Hon. Abbas Tajudeen, has called for better welfare and working conditions for Nigerian journalists.
The Speaker congratulated journalists on the 70th anniversary of their umbrella body, the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), saying the organisation has continued to stand the test of time.
In a congratulatory message signed by his special adviser on media and publicity, Musa Abdullahi Krishi, the Speaker asked journalists to continue to seek training, retraining, be more ethical, and development-orientated.
The Speaker said with the new trends in information and communication technology (ICT), journalists must continue to learn, unlearn, and relearn on their job.
He commended the Nigerian journalists for their immeasurable contributions to the country’s democracy and development, while holding the government and its officials accountable.
According to him, the media is called the fourth estate of the realm because its practitioners are critical stakeholders in society, who have enormous power and influence on the people.
Speaker Abbas expressed his belief that better journalists will make a better society, noting their watchdog role in the polity.
He said the House of Representatives was ready to welcome legislations that seek to promote the sanctity of journalism and enhance the capacity of journalists and media professionals as a whole.