‘My Stance on Tinubu’s Gov’t Unchanged,’ El-Rufai Replies Bwala

Immediate-past Kaduna State Governor, Mallam Nasir el-Rufai has reaffirmed that his stance on the President Bola Tinubu-led administration would not have changed even if he were still part of the government.

El-Rufai’s response came after the President’s Special Adviser on Policy Communications, Daniel Bwala, questioned whether the former governor would have been critical of the administration if he held a cabinet position.

LEADERSHIP reports that el-Rufai had described governance and opposition in Nigeria as a “national emergency” at a conference in Abuja on Monday.

He also criticised the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) for its lack of internal democracy, stating, “I no longer recognise the APC. No party organ has met in two years—no caucus, no NEC, nothing. You don’t even know if it is a one-man show; it’s a zero-man show.”

His remarks drew sharp criticism from the APC, which accused him of treachery and claimed that el-Rufai was undermining the government and the party he helped build.

Reacting to El-Rufai’s comments, Bwala took to his X handle, querying if the former governor would have expressed the same views if he were part of the government:

“My senior brother, if you were to be in the government and cabinet, would you have held and expressed the same position? History is replete with examples. It is a government you participated in its formation, that you now want to unseat. Haba Mallam, a Ji soron Allah mana.”

El-Rufai on Thursday responded to Bwala via his X handle, dismissing suggestions that he ever sought a ministerial role in the Tinubu administration and criticising what he described as “latter-day converts” to the government.

“Good morning, #BwalaDaniel, I was cabinet minister 22 years ago and was clear to Asiwaju that I was not interested in any position in his future government. 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.”

He further stated that had he remained in the Tinubu government, his criticisms would have remained unchanged.

“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. Go and check my public service record from 1998.”

El-Rufai also took a swipe at some pro-government voices, alleging that certain individuals were being paid from security votes to defend the administration’s actions online.

“I am only responding to you because I still think you are a decent person who may need a job, and not in the class of Wendell Simlin and that Kaduna pretender that our voters retired in 2019—these clowns are political mercenaries that receive humongous monthly stipends from the security vote to be the first to jump on X and other platforms to defend everything the Asiwaju government does or fails to do, no matter how indefensible it may be.”

Ending his statement, he advised the presidential aide to put his loyalty to ‘God and country’ above political allegiance.

“Enjoy your special adviser position, my brother, but remember that allegiance to God and country comes first in the human scale of accountability, before any person or authority,” el-Rufai said.