Former Kaduna State Governor Nasir El-Rufai has insisted that his views on governance under President Bola Tinubu would remain unchanged, even if he were part of the administration.
El-Rufai made this known on Thursday while responding to the Special Adviser to the President on Policy Communications, Daniel Bwala, who questioned whether he would have expressed the same criticism if he were in government.
Speaking at a national conference on strengthening democracy in Nigeria, El-Rufai had described the state of governance and opposition as a “national emergency.”
He also lamented the lack of internal democracy in the All Progressives Congress (APC), stating, “I no longer recognise the APC. No party organ has met in two years—no caucus, no NEC, nothing. You don’t even know if it is a one-man show; it’s a zero-man show.”
In response, the APC accused El-Rufai of treachery, alleging he had been undermining both the ruling party and the Federal Government. This led Bwala to question him via his X handle:
“My Senior brother, if you were to be in the government and cabinet, would you have held and expressed the same position? History is replete with examples. It is a government you participated in its formation, that you now want to unseat. Haba Mallam, a Ji soron Allah mana.”
El-Rufai fired back on Thursday via X, dismissing claims that he sought a ministerial role in the Tinubu administration.
He took aim at “latter-day converts” who, according to him, now defend the government unconditionally.
“Good morning, #BwalaDaniel, I was cabinet minister 22 years ago and was clear to Asiwaju that I was not interested in any position in his future government. The pathetic manner all of you latter-day converts to the Tinubu government make an issue of something that I never wanted in the first place is perhaps a reflection of the level of your moral flexibility.”
He maintained that his criticism of the APC and the Tinubu-led government would have been the same, even if he were in office.
“If I had remained in the Tinubu government, I will say or do the same on the tragedy within a party I was a founder, and the government that emerged from it – first in private sessions with those concerned, and then go public if no remedial actions are taken. Go and check my public service record from 1998.”
El-Rufai also called out individuals whom he accused of blindly defending the Tinubu government for financial gains.
“I am only responding to you because I still think you are a decent person who may need a job, and not in the class of Wendell Simlin and that Kaduna pretender that our voters retired in 2019 – these clowns are political mercenaries that receive humongous monthly stipends from the security vote to be the first to jump on X and other platforms to defend everything the Asiwaju government does or fails to do, no matter how indefensible it may be.”
He ended with a subtle jab at Bwala, advising him to remember his ultimate duty to God and country.
“Enjoy your special adviser position, my brother, but remember that allegiance to God and country comes first in the human scale of accountability, before any person or authority.”
