Taking Turns To Kick El-Rufai

For Nasir El-Rufai, one of Nigeria’s most formidable political operators, the present season must feel particularly unforgiving.

A man who once moved comfortably around the corridors of power now appears to be facing criticism from former allies, political opponents, and, increasingly, officials within the establishment he once helped build.

Yet the hostility did not begin today. El-Rufai has spent more than two decades making powerful friends and equally powerful enemies.

His political history contains several episodes that still colour perceptions of him. During the final years of Olusegun Obasanjo’s presidency, El-Rufai was involved in the succession politics surrounding the 2007 election.

In his memoir, The Accidental Public Servant, he described how Nuhu Ribadu and others were involved in discussions around his possible emergence, before Umaru Yar’Adua eventually became Obasanjo’s successor.

Then came 2023, when El-Rufai became one of the strongest northern voices pushing for power to return to the South.

He publicly warned that elements within the Presidential Villa were working against Bola Tinubu and defended the APC candidate at a moment when questions were being raised about the party’s commitment to his victory.

The most contentious part of his legacy, however, remains the deputy governor’s ticket. El-Rufai defended the arrangement as a political calculation that helped win elections.

His comments about political appointments and voting patterns nevertheless provoked fierce criticism from groups who accused his administration of deepening divisions in Kaduna.

That controversy has now acquired a new dimension: being blamed for much of the violence that has engulfed Kaduna over the last decade.

Defence Minister Christopher Musa recently accused El-Rufai of deliberately contributing to killings and divisions in Southern Kaduna. Others have followed suit. So why does everyone appear to be kicking him now?

It is one thing to question the choices he made as governor in managing communal clashes, especially in appeasing bandits, but accusing him of being behind the killings is another thing entirely.

As governor, Ahmed Makarfi did the very opposite. It was the people of Southern Kaduna that he sought to pacify, carving out a new and separate traditional institution in the zone after a deadly episode of violence.

And while every governor has had a different approach, the reality is that the roots of the violence predate and have outlasted them all. But it has also shaped the reputation of some.

Referring to Muhammadu Buhari after the 2011 presidential election defeat, El-Rufai said if you are tagged as a religious bigot and you don’t fight it, it will stick. The tag became a political tool. Now, El-Rufai is the one fighting that label.

It might not appear so now, but El-Rufai’s incarceration and the kicks to his head while he is down will only make him look like a victim.

In June 2023, after Donald Trump was criminally indicted, The Economist wrote in an article that Trump had started to fade politically.

But the indictments, it said, brought him back to life. Sixteen months later, it was proven right.