Senator Ali Ndume, who represents Borno South Senatorial District, has stated that former Kaduna State governor, Nasir El-Rufai, is now facing the consequences of abandoning former Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi, during the buildup to the 2023 presidential election.
Ndume, who served as the Director-General of the Amaechi Presidential Campaign, made this assertion during an interview on Arise News on Tuesday.
He recalled that El-Rufai initially pledged his support to Amaechi during a consultation visit to Kaduna but later switched allegiance to Bola Tinubu after the former Lagos governor visited.
Ndume said, “El-Rufai was supposed to be on our side but somehow, he moved over. And I think these are part of the things that are annoying or frustrating him.”
He further added, “He was on our side. Amaechi’s side. Before Tinubu was nominated, he made up his mind to support Tinubu, and Tinubu, as he rightly said, said that he should not leave and that he should come on board, join the government.”
“So since then, I’ve not been that [close to El-Rufai] because he abandoned our group. He was on our side but went to support Tinubu fully. You know, he really mobilized. He did a lot of things. Tinubu asked him to join the government but somehow, up till now, I don’t understand what happened [El-Rufai and Tinubu] but that is not my business.”
“But sometimes, I’ll say, ‘okay o, you did that to us, it’s payback to yourself’. But, I cannot understand, I was the Chief Whip. El-Rufai came to the chamber [for ministerial screening] and we almost like told him to take a bow and go…”
After the 2023 presidential victory, Tinubu nominated El-Rufai for a ministerial position, but his nomination was rejected by the Senate. The development marked the beginning of a widening rift between the two political figures.
El-Rufai has since left the All Progressives Congress (APC) and is now a prominent figure in the opposition, having joined the Social Democratic Party (SDP).
