Mallam Nasir El-Rufai, the former governor of Kaduna State, has voiced reservations about the actions of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and the current administration, which is headed by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
El-Rufai stated in a lengthy tweet published on Tuesday through his official X handle that it is too soon to begin
discussing the general elections in 2027 while the current administration is only two years into its term.
The APC leader, however, claimed that the current affairs in the ruling party, to which he belonged, are causing him to speak.
“It is actually premature to be talking about 2027 elections less than two years into our first tenure,” the former governor stated.
I feel compelled to address what is occurring in the political sphere because, as they say, “a stitch in time saves nine.”
Naturally, as a member of the APC, I would like to see my party gain reelection in 2027. As a realist, though, I have my reservations.
“I remember writing during the 2019 party primaries that if the party wasn’t careful, it would end up like the PDP, which lost power after 16 years, after observing how our party handled the primaries.
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“I said at the time that we might lose federal power by 2031 if we didn’t go back to our promised progressive path and ideology and instead continued to be fixated on winning elections at all costs, just like the PDP.”
I never thought Tinubu would put us in this predicament.
El-Rufai went on to discuss the events in the APC and the nation as a whole, saying he never anticipated things to go that way.
“We weren’t confronted with the current situation when I wrote that,” he wrote. In fact, I never thought that we would find ourselves in this predicament so quickly, and certainly not under President Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
Note: I’m not referring to the current state of the economy or anything similar. I’m referring to the present and growing “ghaghagha” within our party, among APC members, and among those who support the PBAT government.
By the way, a lot of Nigerians have short memories. Let me balance the recollections of such brief encounters with those of naïve political novices.
Many will remember my fervent warning that we should exercise prudence and refrain from playing with the North as the 2023 presidential election drew near due to the actions of certain individuals. Somehow, common sense won out, and we were successful, without a doubt, with the incalculable assistance of the North (the
Election results records attest to this.
The relationship between the North and President Bola Tinubu, or more specifically, his administration, is rapidly eroding less than two years into his term, thanks to the words and actions of sadly many members of his clan and geographical zone. To be honest,
“I’ve read and heard the haughty posturing and braggadocio of some people, who I call political rabble-rousers, but it keeps looking more and more like a movie we’ve seen before, and it worries me more every day.”
“I would like to remind some people that President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan’s administration’s performance—or lack thereof—was not the main factor that brought him down, nor the PDP, which had claimed to rule Nigeria for 60 years, but rather his and those around him’s attitude toward the North.
“Despite General Muhammadu Buhari Rtd’s popularity and the assembly of political heavyweights under the then-newly formed APC, one major factor that contributed to the defeat of former President Jonathan and the PDP in the 2015 presidential election was the underestimation of the North and the disrespect and insults directed towards it. This was especially the case under the then-first lady and was accentuated by elements from the South South geopolitical zone, particularly his Ijaw kinsmen, many of whom had little to no political clout and were living full-time in the NICON and Sheraton hotels in Abuja at the time (with newly discovered free money).
Ironically, a large number of these people made little to no contribution to Jonathan’s victory in 2011.
El-Rufai added in his post titled “SOUTH WEST, TINUBU’S SUPPORTERS PLAYING WITH FIRE” that “many of them forgot that it was the agitation by groups like the Save Nigeria Group (SNG), led by the likes of Pastor Tunde Bakare, Mallam Nasir El-Rufai, Mr. Yinka Odumakin (RIP), and co. that eventually led to then VP Goodluck Jonathan becoming the acting President in the first place following the incapacitation of former President Shehu Musa Yaradua (God rest his soul).”
