Former Kaduna State governor, Mallam Nasir el-Rufai, has accused the state government of sponsoring the shootout during his meeting with defectors from the All Progressives Congress (APC) and Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) into the African Democratic Congress (ADC) in his home state.
He also dismissed the insinuation that he was not a member of the ADC, stressing that he, alongside the former Anambra State governor, Mr Peter Obi, obtained a waiver to remain in their original political parties pending the conclusion of by-elections in their respective states.
The former governor made the assertions while appearing on the Channels Television programme, Politics Today. On the issue of improved security in Kaduna State barely two years after his tenure, the immediate past governor alleged that the state authorities were sending money and food to bandits to create a false narrative.
Citing a report from the SBM intelligence, el-Rufai disclosed that the banditry in the three states of Kaduna, Katsina and Zamfara states had worsened owing to the penchant of the various state chief executives to humour the criminals, stressing that it does not make sense to empower enemies of the state.
The former governor acknowledged that he supported the Muslim/Muslim presidential ticket that enabled President Bola Tinubu and Senator Kashim Shettima to win the 2023 poll, pointing out that the approach worked as an electoral strategy and not a religious strategy.
He explained that his perceived attacks on President Tinubu were due to the poor performance record of the administration, maintaining that the fact that he supported Tinubu’s emergence and victory does not remove his right to criticize the government for what he called its many failings.
Although he denied that he had fallen out with his successor, the former Kaduna State said that the incumbent Senator Uba Sani was not his friend, adding that allegations of misappropriation of Kaduna State resources were subject to litigation.
el-Rufai maintained that despite the control of the coercive institutions, including the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and the Police, President Tinubu would experience a similar defeat as an incumbent like former President Goodluck Jonathan in 2015.
He said of Tinubu, “he will be defeated, he does not have the pathway to win. I have done the arithmetic. Tinubu has not lost an election before, let us wait and see”.
el-Rufai also argued that both Obi and Amaechi, having served as governors for eight years, understand that four years is insufficient to effect any fundamental transformation in government. “Nobody will believe you when you make such promises,” he said.
He noted that zoning remains largely a political strategy adopted by parties to win elections, recalling that the All Progressives Congress (APC) deployed it in 2023 after former President Muhammadu Buhari had completed his two terms. “I mobilised APC governors then, when I was in APC, to ensure that power returned to the South, not minding what the PDP did at the time. But as for the ADC, the party is still in formation,” he stated.
According to him, “We are still building it, and it is not yet a national party. It remains very weak. When it is fully formed, the leadership will address the issue of zoning.”
Responding to criticisms that the African Democratic Congress (ADC) is populated by familiar faces from the political establishment, El-Rufai countered that the majority of its members have never had the opportunity to transform the country. “People may say whatever they like, but those who will eventually change Nigeria will not come from heaven,” he said.
Citing his own record, he added, “I have never been given the opportunity to run Nigeria, but go and look at all the agencies I have led. Nobody in ADC has been given that opportunity. Meanwhile, there are many things going wrong under the incumbent administration.”
