Former governor of Kaduna State and a chieftain of the African Democratic Congress (ADC) in coalition, Nasir El-Rufai has explained why he is vehement in his criticism of the administration of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
El-Rufai, who spoke Sunday night in a televised interview with Channels Television, also accused the government of cronyism and impoverishing the people of Nigeria.
“They came into power when the exchange rate was N400 and today it is N1,600; 30 million more people have been plunged into poverty within two years, and agriculture has totally been destroyed,” he said.
On why he decided to describe the government as evil, El-Rufai said: “I am the only person qualified to call the government evil because I see evil when I see it. This is the only government that came to power and from day one its preoccupation is to make money for himself. Cronyism of the highest order; not even a pretense of a good nature. I was one of those that campaigned for Bola Tinubu; now, I come again to say that am sorry. That is why we are looking for how to rescue the country in 2027.”
The former governor, who insisted that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu would not return to power in 2027, said that the failure of the current administration to positively impact the lives of the citizenry would be the reason. He also said that those who go about saying that re-election for Tinubu was a fait-accompli were merely deluding themselves.
Reminded that many state governors are cross-carpeting and that many other politicians are joining the ruling APC to brighten its chances ahead the 2027, he said: “They can believe what they want to believe; they can go ahead engaging in self-delusion, or use carrot and stick tactic to woo people to join them. It is not about people moving into a party that determines who wins an election. It is not as critical as people believe. I was governor of Kaduna in 2023, but APC did not win there; Bola Tinubu did not win in Lagos that is his stronghold.”
Read also: Tinubu will finish third in 2027 presidential election – El-Rufai
El-Rufai, who also predicted a run-off in the presidential election in 2027, said: “No winner will emerge in the first election; it will be a run-off and Bola Tinubu will be defeated at the first run, he will not be on the run-off. Although he has the Army, Police and the INEC, he should invite Jonathan and ask him what happened in 2015.”
When asked if he was criticising the government because he was not made a minister, he said that he would have probably resigned by now when he began to see the direction of the government.
El-Rufai, who also denied the security-risk appellation attached to him by certain security agency, said that those who felt so were failing in their duties to bring to justice confirmed security risks like Bello Turji and others who are still walking the streets freely.
“The most important terrorists are freely roaming the streets. The security thing (on the basis of which he was denied the ministerial appointment) was an exit strategy for Bola Tinubu, because he didn’t want me to be minister,” he said.
On what the country lost by not appointing him, he said: “I was going to be a minister of Power and by 2030, every part of the country would have had reliable electricity. I have given them that plan; go and ask them what they have done with it. It was sheer idiocy and lack of love for country that makes people to think that I was lobbing to be a minister.
“The purpose of having power is to do something with it. What we are trying to do now is to build a strong party. We should focus on building a strong party and making ADC a national party, we are not there yet.”
Reminded that most of those in the coalition are old faces who have been in politics and have held many political positions in the past without any improvement, the former governor said: “My response will be on these three points- one, look, ask yourself, under the APC government under Bola Tinubu, is your life better? Why not give another person chance? Two- where do you want the politicians to that can challenge the APC and Bola Tinubu to come from? From the Mars? I was among those that founded the APC, so, I know where the bodies are buried in the APC. Alhaji Atiku Abubakar was also among those that founded the PDP; he knows where the bodies are also buried in the party. Three- I stand by my reputation. Go and look at the agencies and ministries that I headed. Go to the Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE), and go to Kaduna and ask people on the street what I did. So, nobody in ADC coalition has been given the opportunity to preside over Nigeria.”
He also said that zoning was not the immediate priority of the ADC as the coalition is still trying to put the party together.
“Zoning is a political strategy every party pursues to win election. PDP has decided to zone its presidential ticket to the south; good luck to them. The ADC is still forming and when the time comes the party will decide,” he said.
