Tinubu Has Plunged 30m More Nigerians Into Poverty, He Will Lose 2027 Poll — El-Rufai

The immediate-past governor of Kaduna State, Mallam Nasiru el-Rufai, has described the administration of President Bola Tinubu in the last two years as ‘an evil government’ that has plunged 30 million more Nigerians into poverty, and must be stopped from further destroying the country.

El-Rufai said this while speaking on the state of the nation on Channels TV’s current affairs programme, ‘Sunday Politics’, stressing that ahead of the 2027 elections, the opposition coalition African Democratic Congress (ADC) was being prepared to unseat Tinubu and the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).

The former governor further accused President Tinubu of massive failure in the economy of the nation, stressing that Tinubu has embarked on unprecedented cronyism, while the economy, agriculture, security and other sectors of the nation’s life continued to deteriorate.

When asked about the governors and other political figures’ recent defection to the APC, the former Minister of the Federal Capital Territory(FCT) said the governors joining the APC were “lured or intimated” into the party because “when you are in the APC you are immunised from being investigated for corruption.” He added that at the end of the day, the Nigerian voter will decide based on President Tinubu’s performance and the performance of governors.

“It is not a governor moving to a party that will make that party win. I was governor of Kaduna State and I was one of Tinubu’s biggest campaigners, but I could not deliver the state for him. Tinubu himself could not win his state with his own governor in place,” he said.

El-Rufai then predicted that Tinubu would lose the 2027 election based on what he described as his maths and analysis and declared that Tinubu has no path to win.

He said, “the worst case scenario in the 2027 election is that no winner will emerge in the first round, then we go for a second ballot and Tinubu will not be on the ballot for the run off because at best he will come third in the election. He has no pathway to win. I have done the maths, he can deceive himself. He thinks he has money, because they have taken all the money in the country, he might think he has INEC, the police, the Army, but he should ask former President Jonathan to give him lessons about 2015.”

Reacting to the insinuation that he was denied a ministerial appointment in the Tinubu’s administration because he was alleged to be a security threat, El-Rufai said he has no ambition other than to serve the Nigerian people, even as he blamed Tinubu for using the narrative about him being a security threat to drop him.

He gave a hint as to him preferring to be the Minister of Power, where he intended to provide adequate and stable electricity to all Nigerians by 2030. He, however, noted that he would have resigned because of the direction the Tinubu government was going.

Also, speaking on the ADC, he said the party was not a national party yet, but stakeholders were putting resources and energy together to build it to become a national party and a formidable force ahead of the 2027 general election.