Daniel Bwala, President Bola Tinubu’s special adviser on policy communications, warned Nasir El-Rufai, a former governor of Kaduna State, on Thursday after calling him a “latter-day convert.”
The former governor, a prominent member of the ruling All Progressives Congress, has recently made headlines for criticising the party for lacking active party structures and internal democracy.
“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,” El-Rufai said at a national conference in Abuja on strengthening democracy in Nigeria on Monday.
In a series of tweets via his X handle on Thursday, while responding to Bwala’s tweet, El-Rufai mentioned that he had no interest in serving in the President Bola Tinubu-led administration.
“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 in which 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 tweeted, among others.
However, reacting to the tweets, Bwala cautioned that he and the El-Rufai were instrumental in Tinubu’s emergence as the party’s presidential candidate in the 2023 elections.
“With respect, I am not a latter-day Asiwaju supporter. We both played our roles in his emergence as the candidate of the party ahead of the 2023 elections. And before then, whilst you were from the CPC extraction of APC, I was from the ACN, which explains why I worked with Comrade Oshiomhole when he chaired the party, among other things, to protect the interest of Asiwaju, whom at the time you people vowed to retire from politics,” Bwala stated.
“They are not borne out of patriotism, but need for vengeance,” the president’s spokesperson said, expressing his admiration for the APC chieftain. “The opposition sees that singular element of vengeance as a veritable tool for your recruitment.”
“I still think you don’t need all these melodramatic activities or a vengeance mission. Come back and resolve whatever you think are your grievances like the dignified man that you are.
“Our party, APC, as of today remains the only organised party with identifiable structures across the country. So, if you are looking for any symbol of democracy, it is still in your party. Please, senior, come home; you have toiled all night,” he stated.
![Rev. Fr. Anthony Odiong, a US-based Nigerian Louisiana Catholic priest, was arrested in Florida on Tuesday for possessing child pornography, according to law authorities. The suspect is reportedly accused of many other cases of sexual assault. The Waco, Texas, Police Department announced in a Facebook post on Tuesday that officers detained Father Anthony Odiong in Ave Maria, Florida, with assistance from the United States Marshals Service. Waco police announced in March that they had received "credible information" about a sexual assault allegedly committed by Odiong in Texas in 2012. “During the subsequent investigation, a case of possession of child pornography was uncovered,” the police said. The priest was apprehended in Florida by the Caribbean Regional Fugitive Task Force. The Waco Police Department said that he will be extradited to Texas. Odiong had previously served in the Archdiocese of New Orleans before being removed as priest in December of last year due to controversy over homilies in which he claimed, among other things, that the Catholic Church was being taken over by "the gays." At the time, the priest was also accused of abusive behaviour; a Louisiana lady claimed in U.S. bankruptcy court that Odiong had committed both financial and sexual abuse against her. Prior to joining the New Orleans Archdiocese, Odiong served in at least two Texas parishes. On Tuesday, Waco police stated that during their sexual assault investigation, "the presence of other survivors was revealed." “Multiple women have come forward to tell similar experiences as the sexual assault survivor who reported the initial allegation,” the police department said. “Survivors’ experiences ranged from sexual assault and indecent assault, more commonly recognised as groping, and financial abuse, with some survivors experiencing every element of Anthony Odiong’s manipulation.” The police said they “believe there may be more survivors, and we wish to speak with anyone who [has] had similar encounters” with the priest. The Archdiocese of New Orleans issued a brief news release on Tuesday noting Odiong's arrest in Florida. The archdiocese “encourages anyone with any information to contact law enforcement,” the release said.](https://chronicle.ng/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/ezgif-6-4730550ede-450x300.jpg "Is Anthony Odiong still a priest after life in prison sentence over rape?")
