Governor Abdullahi Sule of Nasarawa State has said that former Kaduna State governor, Nasir El-Rufai, has not dumped the All Progressives Congress, APC.

This comes as Sule dismissed the possibility of some opposition figures, including El-Rufai, forming a merger ahead of the 2027 elections.

Sule’s remark follows a strategic meeting between El-Rufai, Chairman of the Social Democratic Party, SDP, Shehu Gabam, Hamza Al-Mustapha, and Segun Sowunmi, an ally of Atiku Abubakar.

The closed-door meeting, held at the SDP Secretariat in Abuja, reviewed the state of opposition engagement in the country.

Speaking about the meeting, Gabam said he was open to conversations centred around a better Nigeria.

Addressing journalists, he said: “There is no official statement from El-Rufai or any of them about officially joining the 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.”

However, Governor Sule, while featuring on Channels TV’s Today’s Politics, said: “El-Rufai has not left our party; he is still part of the party.

“I think it’s too early to start making those kinds of permutations, that this one is leaving and therefore the house is coming down.

“I’m not scared. What we are going to do in the next two years will be determined by our party. I strongly believe we will perform wonderfully in the next two years, and once we are able to do that, I don’t think the party needs to fear any merger.”

El-Rufai has not left APC – Gov Sule