El-Rufai: Tinubu’s Reelection Will Ruin Nigeria’s Social Capital

Former Governor of Kaduna State, Nasir El-Rufai, has cautioned that Nigeria’s social capital could be irreparably damaged if President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) are returned to power in 2027.

El-Rufai delivered this warning in Sokoto during a grassroots mobilisation campaign organised by the opposition coalition platform, the African Democratic Congress (ADC).

He expressed his full support for the movement and pledged to assist in galvanising Nigerians to ensure the removal of the APC from office.

He maintained that permitting the current administration to secure a second term would seriously threaten the country’s future.

He remarked, “If we allow this party and government to continue for a second term in office, what remains of Nigeria’s social capital will be destroyed, and we may not have a country. Therefore, this is a fight for our lives.”

El-Rufai asserted that his return to active politics is not motivated by personal ambition but rather by the urgent necessity of reversing the “failures of the current government.”

“I am not in politics to gain anything for myself. I am in politics to serve. When the government fails to serve the people, it is my duty as a senior citizen to step forward, condemn it, and take action to rectify the situation,” he stated.

The former governor elaborated that the ADC coalition was established by political stakeholders who oppose the APC’s policies, adding that the Sokoto rally was the initial step in a broader national mobilisation effort.

“We are in Sokoto to begin mobilising Nigerians against the APC government everywhere and the federal government in Abuja,” he explained.

El-Rufai, one of the founding members of the APC, officially departed from the ruling party in March 2025 to join the Social Democratic Party (SDP), citing dissatisfaction with the administration’s direction.