Former Jigawa State Governor Sule Lamido has reacted to a call made by a former Governor Nasir El-Rufai who urged prominent opposition leaders to join his new party, Social Democratic Party, SDP.
Recall that Mr El-Rufai, during an interview with the BBC aired on Saturday, had urged opposition leaders like former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, Peter Obi, Rotimi Amaechi, Rauf Aregbesola and others to join the SDP.
But responding to the invitation during an interview with the same station on Sunday, Mr Lamido described the invitation as an insult to the PDP.
“It’s an act of disrespect for him to make that call. How can a little child claim to be more intelligent than his grandfather?
“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,” Mr Lamido said.
He added: “He once said that there are no elders in Nigeria in politics, but now he is calling on us to join him in the SDP. He doesn’t have that capacity.
The former governor also questioned 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,” Mr Lamido stated.
According to Mr Lamido, he said the PDP had not done anything to warrant his defection, emphasising 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.
“Leadership is done with patience and vision, and doing things for the peace of the followers and the country as a whole.”
He also advised Mr 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.
“The PDP has been working to rebuild its strength after losing the 2015 presidential election.”
