Former Kaduna State Governor, Nasir El-Rufai on Thursday mentioned that if he were in the President Bola Tinubu-led government, his critical position on remarks about the administration would remain unchanged.
El-Rufai had described the state of governance and opposition in the country as a “national emergency” at a national conference in Abuja on strengthening democracy in Nigeria on Monday.
The former governor also lamented the lack of internal democracy and active party structures within the All Progressives Congress, saying, “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.’
In its response, the ruling APC knocked El-Rufai, as it accused him of treachery over how he had been dragging the Federal Government and the ruling party recently.
Reacting El-Rufai’s remarks, President Tinubu’s Special Adviser on Policy Communications, Daniel Bwala, questioned the APC chieftain via his X handle, saying, “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.”
Responding on Thursday to Bwala’s question, El-Rufai via his X handle, asserted his stance, as he called out those he described as “latter-day converts” to the Tinubu administration for insisting he wanted to serve as a minister in the current 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.
“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.
“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.
“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.”
Recall El-Rufai was on the list of the ministerial nominees President Tinubu sent to the Senate for approval but was rejected by the upper chamber, citing security grounds.