Former Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) and former governor of Kaduna State, Nasir El’Rufai continues to fight dirty over the refusal of President Bola Tinubu to appoint him a minister of the Federal Republic under the Tinubu administration
By Udoka Ekeleme, Abuja
On Sunday, February 23, 2025 the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) poured verbal attacks on the immediate-past governor of Kaduna State, Nasir El-Rufai, as indications emerged that the former Federal Capital Territory Minister was rallying northern leaders and political bigwigs against President Bola Tinubu’s re-election ahead of the 2027 presidential election.
The National Secretary of the APC, Ajibola Basiru, accused El’Rufai of stoking ethnic agenda over his failure to get a cabinet appointment. The once-cordial relationship between Tinubu and El’Rufai soured after the latter failed to secure a ministerial appointment. President Tinubu had nominated El’Rufai for a ministerial position, unfortunately, the former governor was rejected by the National Assembly during screening exercise on issues of security report which was never made public. In recent weeks, El’Rufai allegedly has been meeting with various northern political leaders and opposition figures, including the 2023 presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Atiku Abubakar for political realignment in pursuit of presidency in 2027.
Remarkably, El’Rufai had accused Atiku of corruption. In a twist and to demonstrate his new-found relationship with the former vice president whom he accused of corruption in his book, “The Accidental Servant,” El-Rufai joined Atiku’s entourage during a condolence visit to the family of the elder statesman and leader of Niger Delta, Chief Edwin Clark who passed on in February.
As he spoke to the media during the condolence visit, El-Rufai said Atiku deserved commendations for spearheading economic reforms during the Olusegun Obasanjo administration, stressing that, “Nobody gives Alhaji Atiku Abubakar the credit for economic policy-making under Obasanjo’s administration. Many of the things we did were under his leadership. “Maybe because we don’t write about it, and people don’t read history, we tend to forget. We only remember negative things. Maybe, it’s part of human nature”.
Also, after the condolence visit, El’Rufai and Atiku were sighted observing the day’s Juma’at prayer together.
Again, on Saturday, February 22, 2025, El-Rufai was spotted in a meeting with the Kaduna State executive committee of the PDP. The former governor was accompanied by his former Chief of Staff, Bashir Saidu.
The closed-door meeting, which took place in Kaduna, sparked speculations about possible political realignments and bipartisan cooperation ahead of the 2027 election. Twenty-forty hours later, the ex-governor held a meeting with the former National Chairman of the APC, Abdullahi Adamu, on Sunday, February 23, 2025.
El-Rufai reportedly visited Adamu at the latter’s residence in Keffi, Nasarawa State, as was made public by an X user and staunch follower of El-Rufai, @UI_Wakili who wrote, “Mallam Nasir El-Rufai, accompanied by Mallam Bashir Saidu and Dujima Adamawa, paid a visit to former APC Chairman Abdullahi Adamu today at his residence in Keffi.” Adamu is believed to have fallen out with Tinubu following his resignation as APC national chairman in July 2023. Lately, El-Rufai launched media attacks on the APC and accused it of lacking internal democracy, noting that the party’s organs had not convened in the last two years.
Also last February, El’Rufai shared an opinion by a social commentator, Uche Diala, which claimed the relationship between Tinubu and the North had deteriorated less than two years into his administration, warning that he may be given the ‘Goodluck Jonathan treatment’ in the 2027 elections.
El-Rufai published the statement written on his verified X handle. It was titled, ‘2027: South West, Tinubu’s supporters playing with fire – Part 1.’
The statement read in part, “Less than two years into the tenure, we are witnesses to how the relationship between the North and President Bola Tinubu or rather his administration is quickly deteriorating, driven by the words and conduct of, unfortunately, many from the president’s geopolitical zone and tribe. Truth be told.
“I have read and heard the arrogant posturing and braggadocio by some people whom I refer to as political rabble-rousers, but I get more worried each day as it keeps looking more and more like a movie we had seen before.
“May I remind some persons that, more than the performance or lack thereof of the President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan administration, it was his attitude, and that of people around him, towards the North that ultimately brought him down and, by extension, the PDP that had boasted that it would rule Nigeria for 60 years.”
Speaking on El-Rufai’s subterranean political moves, the APC National Secretary, Basiru, said they no longer pay attention to his activities after the party discovered he was “an overrated ethnic champion” who is always ready to pitch northern politicians against their southern counterparts.
The party scribe slammed El-Rufai over his continued posture as the mouthpiece of the North and recent fraternity with top opposition figures.
According to him, “I have told you before and am still telling you again that we are concerned about our affairs in the APC. For parties in Nigeria, it is free exit and free entry. So anybody is free to exit if he wants to exit. But we will not dignify such moves with any comment for now. “We understand that sectional politics is what makes some people tick. Unfortunately, he (El-Rufai) is not thinking about the development of the country but is stoking up the ethnic nationality agenda. This South versus North posture shows that all along, he has been overrated as a person.”
Hinting at El-Rufai’s grievance, Basiru noted, “The only thing we want to say is that governance is a serious matter and nobody has the birthright to be an appointee of government. There are more than 180 million Nigerians and quite a number of them are qualified. “So, if you don’t have an opportunity to serve in a government, it does not mean that you should be going around and trying to become an emergency activist. As I said before, politics is a free exit and free entry. The APC is solid and we are forging ahead.”
On Monday, February 24, the APC slammed El’Rufai again for attacking President Bola Tinubu and the National Security Adviser, Nuhu Ribadu during an interview on a national television. The National Vice Chairman of the APC (South East), Dr Ijeoma Arodiogbu, described El-Rufai’s criticism of the President and the NSA during a Monday night interview on Arise TV as pathetic.
El-Rufai, in the interview, criticised the president’s economic reforms, saying the sequencing was wrong.
He said, “I support some of (Tinubu) policies; most of the economic policies are the right orthodox policies, but the sequencing is wrong, and the quality of the people implementing the reforms leaves much to be desired. And I think that some of the reforms are just wrong.
“You don’t address food inflation by destroying domestic agriculture. Food prices may be going down, but farmers are being impoverished because they are being made to compete with subsidised agricultural products from Europe and other countries. “So, I have issues with many of them, and I’m in touch with many senior officials of the administration, and I give them my opinion privately.” He accused the President of rejecting him as a ministerial nominee and not the National Assembly, as was reported in the media.
El’Rufai said it was President Tinubu who changed his mind on the cabinet appointment offer after asking him publicly not to be far from him after he concluded his second term in Kaduna State.
Speaking on the failed cabinet membership, El’Rufai said, “Since I left office and the President begged me publicly to come and serve in his government, I had my plans and told President Tinubu from day one when he asked me to support him, I said would, but I don’t want anything because politics in Nigeria is always about what do I get for giving you support.
“I’m not in politics for that reason. I’m not in politics to get anything. I have a surname, and I’m a self-made man. I’ve made money before coming into public office. ‘’I don’t need anything. After eight years in Kaduna, I was nearly burnt out. I was struggling for eight years, and I wanted to take a break, and I had my private plans.
“The President publicly appealed to me to put my plans on hold and through two months of negotiations, we finally agreed that he would nominate me as minister and there were certain conditions I attached to that.’’
“I think along the line, either the President changed his mind or something else. Please don’t believe the story that the National Assembly rejected me. The National Assembly had nothing to do with this, the President didn’t want me in his cabinet, he changed his mind. Whatever it is, I don’t care and I’ve moved on,’’ the APC chieftain stated.
El-Rufai also criticised Ribadu’s appointment as NSA, saying he was not qualified for the job, while accusing the NSA of leading a plot to tarnish his reputation because of his 2031 Presidential ambition. El-Rufai alleged that Ribadu is collaborating with Governor Uba Sani of Kaduna, and the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission to destroy his image. According to him, Ribadu is nursing a presidential ambition in 2031 and he is ready to eliminate every northerner that he thinks is on the radar. “This project of destroying Nasir el-Rufai is Nuhu Ribadu’s conception. He is the architect and builder of that project. He is the one working with Uba Sani to implement it. So far, it has been frustrating for them. “Somebody wants to destroy my reputation. Why? Nuhu Ribadu wants to be president in 2031. He has to eliminate every northerner that he thinks is on the radar,” El-Rufai further berated Ribadu.
