Political forces in Nigeria appear to be realigning ahead of the 2027 general election.
On Tuesday, January 7, the Chairman of the Social Democratic Party (SDP), Shehu Gabam, met with former Kaduna Governor Nasir El-Rufai of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) and allies of former Vice President Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
Reports of their closed-door meeting immediately sparked rumours of a political merger.
After the meeting, Gabam said their discussion focused on a “better Nigeria”.
“There is no official statement from El-Rufai or any one of them about officially joining SDP. So, as I said, they are open to conversation and negotiations for a better Nigeria. It’s not about a political party; it’s about the future of Nigeria.”
“We are looking for like-minded people who believe in the future of the country so that we can work together and uplift the individual standard of Nigeria,” Gabam noted.
He said they discussed how to stabilize the country and offer productive advice to the government to avoid a crisis.
“Because once the government has a crisis, it affects every Nigerian. So, part of our responsibilities is to make sure we are not facing a crisis. When the time comes, we will decide what to do about other things.”
“There is an ongoing conversation. When the time comes, we will arrive at a conclusion, and we will hold an official press conference.”
“Once we agree on what we are going to do together, we will unveil it to all Nigerians. But at the preliminary stage, we are having our own social gatherings and discussing national issues.“
Gabam explained that more like-minded people are already on board. “So today, there are other heavyweights involved, with whom we are discussing. To me, it’s a normal thing, a normal routine that I go through in the office all the time.”
“So, it’s a welcome development, not just for those of us that met, but for everyone willing to come on board. SDP is a responsible party by history and analysis, and we will continue to provide decent leadership for Nigeria.”
“Our interest is our country first, above any other consideration. We want to have a peaceful country, a well-coordinated country, economic prosperity, political stability for investors, and so on.”
“We don’t have any other objective other than that. So we are playing our role as an opposition party, just the way APC played its role and ousted PDP from power,” Gabam said.
However, he mentioned that while the media’s attention was fixated on El-Rufai and Abubakar, he had met with many other dignitaries from different political parties as well to find common ground.
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