Former governor of Kaduna State, Nasir El-Rufai, has alleged that the government of President Bola Tinubu is behind the crises bedevilling opposition political parties in Nigeria.

Mr El-Rufai disclosed this at the office of his new party, the Social Democratic Party, a day after dumping the All Progressives Congress.

The former FCT minister said the sitting government had bankrolled people to infiltrate the Labour Party, the Peoples Democratic Party, and the New Nigeria Peoples Party and used legal battles to destabilise them to pave the way for Mr Tinubu’s easy re-election in 2027.

He said, “The crisis facing the Labour Party is contrived and funded by the government of the day. Everyone knows it. Jumping from one court to another is all designed to distract the party leadership from focusing on their own functions. The same thing is happening in the PDP. Even the NNPP has been targeted for destruction.”

“There are people that have been resourced to go and cause problems in the NNPP. The last thing I read about NNPP was that one faction had expelled Kwankwaso and the sitting governor. When you see things like that, you will know it is a contrived crisis. Which party sacks a sitting governor? And the only governor they have. You’ll know it’s contrived,” he added.

Mr El-Rufai, however, refused to mention the names of those contracted to destabilise opposition political parties because he “didn’t have the details.”

“I don’t have the details. I cannot mention names because I don’t have the details,” he noted.

Mr El-Rufai’s latest comment comes a day after he vowed to engage with and persuade other opposition leaders and parties to join the SDP to unseat Mr Tinubu in 2027.

When contacted by Peoples Gazette, the president’s media aide, Daniel Bwala, promised to comment on Mr El-Rufai’s allegations later.