Former Senator Shehu Sani has explained his decision to return to the All Progressives Congress (APC) after leaving the party in 2018.
Speaking on Hard Copy, a Channels Television program, Sani stated that the political circumstances that led to his exit have changed, paving the way for his return.
Sani, who previously represented Kaduna Central in the Senate, resigned from the APC in 2018 following disagreements over the party’s primaries.
He later joined the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and contested for a Senate seat in 2019 but lost to Uba Sani, now the Governor of Kaduna State.
Speaking on Friday, the former senator noted that he had reconciled with key political stakeholders in Kaduna, leading to his return to the ruling party.
“A circumstance led to our mass exit from the APC in 2018, and that circumstance has changed, so we have rejoined the party in Kaduna State,” he said.
Sani emphasized that he was among the founding members of the APC in Kaduna, having played a role in building the party’s structures and securing electoral victories in 2015.
However, he parted ways with former Governor Nasir El-Rufai due to political and personal differences, as well as concerns over governance in the state.
“We had to leave the party back then, but now we have a new governor who has reached out to us,” Sani explained. “He has been making efforts to unite different factions, and after discussions, we agreed to return to the party we helped build.”
Sani, along with several PDP and New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP) members, officially joined the APC on February 16 in Kaduna.
Criticism of El-Rufai’s Leadership
The former senator also blamed El-Rufai for APC’s poor performance in Kaduna during the 2023 presidential election. Atiku Abubakar of the PDP secured 554,360 votes in the state, defeating APC’s Bola Tinubu, who garnered 399,293 votes. Labour Party’s Peter Obi finished third with 294,494 votes.
Sani accused El-Rufai of failing to unite the party in Kaduna, leading to significant electoral setbacks.
“The former governor is disgruntled and pained—this is part of the crisis of entitlement and expectations,” he said. “Nasir was governor for eight years but couldn’t deliver Kaduna to Tinubu. The numbers speak for themselves.”
He further noted that under El-Rufai’s leadership, APC lost all three senatorial seats in Kaduna to the PDP. Out of 14 House of Representatives seats, PDP won nine, Labour Party secured two, while APC managed to win only three.
“He also claims to have brought Uba Sani to office, but the numbers tell a different story,” Sani argued. “PDP’s Isa Ashiru got 719,000 votes, while Uba Sani had 730,000—a margin of just 11,000 votes. Kaduna didn’t vote for Uba because of Nasiru; in fact, Uba lost votes because of him.”
He accused the former governor of undermining Uba Sani’s campaign while publicly claiming to support him.
“This was someone who campaigned for Uba on one hand while ridiculing him on the other,” he said.
Sani also recalled that several high-profile APC figures, including Aminu Masari, Segun Oni, Inua Abdulquadri, and John Oyegun, were sent to mediate the internal crisis in Kaduna, but El-Rufai refused to engage with them.
“His refusal to reconcile with APC forces in Kaduna caused major losses. If he truly believes in reconciliation, why didn’t he practice it in his own state?” Sani concluded.
