Former Kaduna State Governor, Nasir El-Rufai, has formally joined the African Democratic Congress (ADC), months after resigning from the All Progressives Congress (APC).
The Telegraph gathered that El-Rufai completed his registration and collected his ADC membership card at the party’s Unguwar Sarki Ward office in Kaduna State. He was accompanied by loyal supporters, including former appointees and local government chairmen.
Speaking at the event, El-Rufai said he would use the ADC platform to challenge what he described as the “incompetent leadership” currently governing Kaduna State. He addressed party officials and supporters, including the ADC Vice Chairman (North West), Hon. Jafaru Sani, and the National Membership Secretary, Senator Sadiq Yar’adua.
“I’m a bona fide member of the African Democratic Congress,” El-Rufai declared. He added that attempts to join the SDP had failed because, according to him, the ruling government had “bribed and compromised some of the leaders,” while the ADC accepted the coalition’s terms.
El-Rufai noted that all pending by-elections and local contests that had delayed his full commitment to the coalition had now been concluded. He thanked organisers for arranging the registration ceremony at short notice, saying, “I was informed at 6 pm yesterday to be here at 4 o’clock. And I managed to get here.”
Turning to politics, the former governor vowed to confront Kaduna’s APC leadership, citing past victories and the need for accountability.
“I call on all citizens of Kaduna State, 18 years and above, to come out en masse and register with the African Democratic Congress,” he urged. “By the grace of God, we are going to repeat what we did in 2015, when we got rid of the incompetent, thieving and corrupt PDP administration.”
El-Rufai further accused the current APC-led government in Kaduna of failing to deliver on its promises and acting with impunity. “We helped bring them into office. We therefore have a duty to help send them back home—before they go to prison,” he said.
His registration carried symbolic weight: El-Rufai was issued membership number 000002, following the coalition’s Vice National Chairman (North West), who received 000001 as the first registrant in the state.
El-Rufai’s departure from the APC on March 10 stemmed from what he described as a widening disconnect between his values and the party’s current direction. In his resignation letter, he accused the APC leadership of abandoning the progressive ideals on which it was founded.
“Developments in the last two years confirm that there is no desire on the part of those who currently control and run the APC to acknowledge, much less address, the unhealthy situation of the party,” he wrote.
El-Rufai said he had repeatedly warned party leaders—privately and publicly—about the APC’s deteriorating internal cohesion, but his concerns were ignored. The former FCT Minister, a key architect of the 2013 merger that created the APC, lamented that the party had drifted far from its original vision.
