Amid the speculations about possible defections to the Social Democratic Party (SDP), Daniel Bwala, President Bola Tinubu’s special adviser on Policy Communication, has said that politicians joining the party will soon begin to fight.
Malam Nasir El-Rufai’s recent defection to the SDP from the ruling All Progressives Congress strengthened the conversation about the proposed coalition ahead of the 2027 presidential election.
With El-Rufai’s defection sparking online conversation around political permutations and calculations about the opposition camp, many Nigerians look forward to more defections in the coming days.
However, Bwala predicted that opposition politicians’ defections to the SDP would soon stir up a crisis in the party.
Speaking on TVC’s Breakfast show on Wednesday, March 12, 2024, the presidential aide claimed that opposition politicians plan to dominate media with their defections for two weeks.
According to him, after their defections, they will begin to fight over the president’s and vice president’s candidacy for the 2027 presidential election.
Explaining why El-Rufai opted for the SDP, Bwala said the former Governor of Kaduna State could not have joined the Peoples Democratic Party because he wouldn’t be allowed to control the party’s structure.
He said, “After one or two weeks of this melodrama… because the way they schemed this thing is that every week, you’ll hear that a gladiator has joined the SDP so that they will dominate the media space with conversation. I hope that the media will be smart enough to know that, but that’s what they intend to do to keep the conversation in the media.
“By the time the two weeks is over, and they are able to enjoy the momentary coverage, when they sit down, they will start fighting over who will be president, who will be vice president.
“The reason El-Rufai didn’t go to the PDP is because of the structure there. He can’t go and dictate things for them.”
