Former Kaduna State governor, Nasir El-Rufai, has cautioned ADC Vanguard, a support group linked to the African Democratic Congress (ADC), against fabricating and attributing same statements to him, saying such actions hurt the party.
In a post on his X page on Thursday, El-Rufai dissociated himself from comments credited to him by the group, stressing that he has his own verified platforms for expressing his opinions.
“Dear ADC Vanguard, please stop fabricating statements and attributing them to me. I have my own social media accounts where I can share my views and opinions,” El-Rufai wrote.
He further explained that he would not hesitate to publicly reject such attributions, regardless of whether he agrees with the message or not.
“I am going to disown the statements you created and attributed, not because I necessarily disagree with the message, but because I never made them. That is not the honest way to represent our party or gain traction. Please stop it forthwith.”
LEADERSHIP reports that the controversy stemmed from a now-deleted post by ADC Vanguard, in which the group quoted El-Rufai as criticising the administration of President Bola Tinubu as being most corrupt.
“Tinubu’s administration is Nigeria’s most corrupt, dishonest government. It has perfected the art of looting with arrogance and lying with confidence,” the post had read in part.
The group also alleged that “every sector, from the economy to security, has been tainted by fraud, kickbacks and favouritism.”
Following El-Rufai’s rebuttal, ADC Vanguard issued a public apology, admitting fault and pledging to avoid similar misrepresentation in future.
“Dear Mallam El-Rufai, we sincerely apologise for the inconvenience caused. It was never our intention to misrepresent or attribute statements to you,” the group said in its apology.
“We respect your voice and your platforms as the proper channels for your views.”
The group added that it would henceforth rely only on “verified and authentic sources” in its communications while thanking El-Rufai for addressing the issue with clarity.