Nasir El-Rufai, the immediate past governor of Kaduna State, has denied betraying Atiku Abubakar, the former vice president and presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party.
In an interview with BBC Hausa that went viral on Saturday, El-Rufai, who recently left the All Progressives Congress for the Social Democratic Party, urged opposition leaders such as Atiku, Labour Party’s Peter Obi, former Rivers State governor Rotimi Amaechi, and Rauf Aregbesola to join the SDP.
El-Rufai, speaking in Hausa, expressed his unhappiness with the current administration by saying, “What pains me is that the government we supported and had confidence in would do well because we saw what Tinubu did in Lagos despite his challenges.
“We all know about his issues in Chicago, but we thought if he could replicate his work in Lagos for Nigeria, let’s support him. However, he failed.”
Speaking on allegations of betrayal, El-Rufai stated, “I never betrayed Atiku Abubakar because we didn’t meet in politics; we met at work. At work, if I see that he didn’t do well, whoever he is, I will tell him. I told Buhari, and I even took Buhari to court on the new naira issue.”
He recalled the political feud between former President Olusegun Obasanjo and Atiku, claiming that people who worked with Obasanjo at the time thought he was correct.
“When Obasanjo and Atiku were having issues, those of us working with Obasanjo looked at the issues between them and said Obasanjo was right.
“It was not about north and south; Obasanjo was right. Atiku and I are now together, and if I betrayed him, why are we together now?”
El-Rufai concluded by reaffirming his call for unity among opposition figures, saying, “What I want and pray for is for all opposition leaders—Atiku Abubakar, Peter Obi, Rotimi Amaechi, and Rauf Aregbesola—to join the SDP.”
