The former Governor of Kaduna State, Nasir El-Rufai, on Monday expressed his doubt that a new political party can be registered under the current leadership of the Independent National Electoral Commission.
El-Rufai, in an interview on Arise TV’s Prime Time programme, noted that opposition leaders are not confident that INEC Chairman Mahmood Yakubu would allow the registration of a new political party.
According to him, the current INEC Chairman is not the sake as his predecessor Attahiru Jga, under whom leadership the All Progressive Congress was registered in 2013.
In his words, “Many of us do not believe that under the current leadership of INEC, a new party would be registered because Mahmood Yakubu is not Jega and President Tinubu is not Jonathan. Those were the people in charge when APC was registered.”
El-Rufai’s remarks followed the Nigerian National Coalition Group application to INEC for the registration of a new political party, the All Democratic Alliance, which he and the former Vice President Atiku Abubakar were spearheading.
The former Kaduna governor was instrumental in the emergence of Tinubu as president, but their union quickly collapsed after the Senate refused to clear him as a ministerial nominee.
He left the ruling APC and joined the Social Democratic Party, where he is spearheading an opposition coalition to challenge Tinubu in the 2027 general election.
