Nasir El-Rufai, former governor of Kaduna state, has issued a riposte to Daniel Bwala, the special adviser on policy communication to President Bola Tinubu.
On January 28, El-Rufai criticised the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) for “straying away from its core values”, adding that he does not recognise his political party any longer.
“I am the founding member of the APC. But frankly, I no longer recognise the APC. No party organ has met in two years — no caucus, no NEC, nothing. I don’t even know if it is a one-man show. It is a zero-man show,” El-Rufai said at a national conference on strengthening democracy in Nigeria, which held in Abuja.
Reacting to El-Rufai’s outburst, Bwala had asked the ex-minister of the federal capital territory (FCT) if his take on the APC would have been different if he were a member of Tinubu’s cabinet.
On August 7, 2023, the senate withheld El-Rufai’s confirmation as minister over security clearance.
In his response to Bwala in a post on X on January 30, El-Rufai said “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”.
“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,” the APC chieftain added.
El-Rufai said he had told Tinubu that he was not interested in any position in his government.
“I was cabinet minster 22 years ago, and was clear to Asiwaju that I was not interested in any position in his future government,” he said.
The ex-governor asked Bwala to enjoy his current office.
“I am only responding to you because I still think you are a decent person who may need a job,” El-Rufai added.
“Enjoy your special adviser position, my brother, but remember that allegiance to God and country comes first in human scale of accountability, before any person or authority.”
Speaking in another post directed to a follower who asked him not to leave the APC, the former governor said: “However, is it not self-evident that it is the APC that has left me stuck in the ideals and visions of its founding fathers and mothers?
“What do you suggest I do then? Please don’t suggest doing nothing. Our party and nation are facing an existential crisis of monumental proportions.”
