The ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) has criticised Nasir El-Rufai, the former governor of Kaduna State, for calling out the APC for having inadequate leadership and urging the opposition parties to put aside their differences and present one front before the 2027 election.
The Presidency accused him of betrayal, in light of the APC leader’s recent dragging of the Nigerian government and ruling party.
El-Rufai referred to the opposition and governance situation in the nation as a “national emergency” during a national summit on bolstering Nigerian democracy in Abuja on Monday.
Additionally, the former governor bemoaned the APC’s lack of internal democracy and vibrant party institutions, declaring, “I no longer recognise the APC. In the past two years, no party organ has convened—not even the NEC or the Caucus. You have no idea if it’s a one-man show or a zero-man show.”
El-Rufai called on political parties to raise the bar for delegates and candidates, pointing out that party nominations should not be based just on a secondary school diploma, which is the lowest qualification laid down in the Constitution.
Speaking on the APC’s origins, El-Rufai stated that the party’s primary goals were to fight corruption, revive the economy, and improve security.
But according to him, the objectives had been dropped.
Therefore, the APC chieftain called on the opposition parties to get together and establish a broad coalition to oppose the ruling party and defend democracy.
Sponsored mercenaries, he claimed, were behind the opposition parties’ internal difficulties.
“The PDP contains internal mercenaries who have been hired and are driven to dismantle the party. The Labour Party is dealing with comparable problems. “I have no idea what’s going on in the party I ran with,” Peter Obi himself told me.
“It appears that a conscious effort is being made to dismantle opposing parties. This is risky. We know what it is because we spent half of our lives under military control. We oppose military control, but we equally oppose civilians acting like soldiers in suits and babbarrigas.
“This is a national emergency, and we need to take action before history happens again,” El-Rufai urged.
The Presidency has since taken action in response to his criticism.
El-Rufai’s comments would have been different if he had been in President Bola Tinubu’s cabinet, Daniel Bwala, Special Adviser to the President on Policy Communications, said in a post on his official X account.
“My Senior Brother, would you have held and expressed the same position if you were in the government and cabinet?” he tweeted. “Examples abound in history. You want to overthrow the government that you helped build. Haba Mallam, a Ji soron Allah mana.”
Similarly, Bala Ibrahim, the APC’s National Publicity Director, stated that El-Rufai would have been better off communicating his issues and views to the party’s leadership rather than always trying to disparage it in public.
Ibrahim clarified, nevertheless, that the former governor has the right to voice his viewpoint.
“The beauty of democracy is that it allows people to voice their own opinions,” he remarked.
“As a recognised politician, former governor, former minister, individual, and party member, El-Rufai has the right to voice his thoughts. However, that does not always mean that is what is taking place in the APC.
“It all comes down to opinions, viewpoints, and the context of the problems. I wouldn’t want to go too deeply into the party’s internal problems or El-Rufa’s current stance on the matter. The APC, however, is a listening party, I can promise you. People have the opportunity to express their opinions through the APC, which is led by Dr. Abdullahi Ganduje.
“He always offers individuals the opportunity to come and chat if there is any confusion or misunderstanding. El-Rufai is therefore the most qualified person to handle this complaint, and he is aware of what to do if he wants specific actions taken to remediate what he believes is going wrong. I can guarantee that the party will listen to him.”
El-Rufai has received support from the nation’s opposition parties, which claim the ruling APC has broken its campaign pledges and commitments to Nigerians.
