The immediate past Governor of Kaduna State, Nasir El-Rufai, has said the former President, Muhammadu Buhari, blessed his defection from the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).

New Telegraph had on Monday reported that El-Rufai dumped the ruling party and joined the Social Democratic Party (SDP) ahead of the 2027 general election.

Speaking days after his defection with BBC Hausa Service, El-Rufai said he met former President Buhari on Friday, March 7, to notify him of his planned defection and Buhari blessed him.

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He said, “I met with him (Buhari) on Friday, and told him about my consultations in preparation to leave the party. I sought his blessing and prayers and told him about the new party I am joining. And he gave his blessing and prayers and wished me success.

“He (Buhari) told me that he is now a statesman, and we are the politicians. He said he knew we had good intentions and then prayed for us.

“What next? I quit their party and challenged them to eat the party if it is food,” he said.

Asked whether he defected so as not to be expelled, El-Rufai said he would have preferred expulsion as it would have saved him the inconvenience of explaining himself.

“Well, it would have been better for me if they expelled me. I have stated many times that APC would be my last political party. Had they expelled me, they would have saved me the trouble of explaining why I left the APC. As I said, I have not left the APC, but the APC rather left me”.