By Augustine Akhilomen
…Accuses Him Of Appointing ‘His Lagos Boys’ Into Offices
…Insists Tinubu, Not NASS Rejected His Nomination As Minister
…Hints On Joining Another Political Party, Rules Out PDP
Former Kaduna State Governor Nasir El Rufai has declared that he would love to see another Southerner replace President Bola Ahmed Tinubu in the 2027 election.
He made this known in an interview with Arise TV News on Monday night, where he also questioned Tinubu’s economic policies, which have harmed the nation’s economy.
“I don’t know (if I will support Tinubu in 2027). I will evaluate the situation at the time, and I will consult widely. When I supported President Tinubu before the primaries, it was a decision that the leaders of APC took in Kaduna. Who do we support? We succeeded in ensuring that power goes to the south, and we know that all the northern candidates will go nowhere, Yahaya Bello, Ahmed Lawan, we knew..
“But among the southerners, who do we support, they know those that are my friends. Tinubu was not my friend. I was never close to him. But the consensus of the APC in Kaduna was that we should support Bola Tinubu because he is the one that is more likely to win. Politicians make these calculations.
“In 2027, I’m going to consult the same people. We are going to take the same decision, which candidate to support and in which party.”
“I don’t want to pass any judgment or make any opinion about the government because anything I say can be interpreted as a criticism. I supported some of the policies, most of the economic policies are the right orthodox policies but the sequencing is wrong, the quality of the people implementing the reforms is least much to be desired.”
“I think some of the reforms are just wrong. You don’t address food inflation by destroying domestic agriculture through importation, for instance. Food prices may be going down but farmers are being impoverished because they are being made to compete with subsidised agricultural products from Europe and other countries. So I have issues with many of them,” El Rufai said.
He also addressed the alleged lop-sided appointments by President Tinubu in favour of the South-West, saying that the President was rather favouring his ‘boys’ in appointments but not the Yorubas.
“The president’s appointments are not being made because the appointees are Yoruba, but because they are his own boys. Most of the appointments do not even reasonably cover the South-West,” he said.
“So people should stop confusing the truth. The appointments are not balanced. Yes, definitely, definitely, right? You cannot argue that, but it’s not a Yoruba thing. Please don’t punish the Yorubas as you have been punishing northerners for the sins of the military,” he added.
Recall that El-Rufai, who was nominated by Tinubu for a ministerial position in 2023, was among those denied confirmation by the Senate.
However, the former Kaduna governor said that Tinubu rejected him as a ministerial nominee and not the National Assembly.
“Since I left office and the President begged me publicly to come and serve in his government, I had my plans and told President Tinubu from day one when he asked me to support him, I said would, but I don’t want anything because politics in Nigeria is always about what do I get for giving you support.
“I’m not in politics for that reason. I’m not in politics to get anything. I have a surname, and I’m a self-made man. I’ve made money before coming into public office. I don’t need anything. After eight years in Kaduna, I was nearly burnt out. I was struggling for eight years and I wanted to take a break, and I had my private plans.
“The President publicly appealed to me to put my plans on hold, and through two months of negotiations, we finally agreed that he would nominate me as minister and there were certain conditions I attached to that.
“I think along the line, either the President changed his mind or something else. Please don’t believe the story that the National Assembly rejected me. The National Assembly had nothing to do with this. The President didn’t want me in his cabinet. He changed his mind. Whatever it is, I don’t care, and I’ve moved on.
“Since I’ve moved on, I’ve not said a word, I’ve not granted an interview, I’ve not commented on the government, but it is within my right as a founding member of the All Progressives Congress to ask why the party isn’t functioning.”
Also, the embattled chieftain of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) said he was not sure of remaining in the party by 2027.
“Anyone from the age of 35 with a secondary school certificate is qualified to run for president, so in that sense, I am qualified.
“But have I started talking to anybody about running for any office? No. I have never discussed that with anybody.
“PDP is not a party I would consider joining. I thought about it long ago and made my decision. Nothing has changed.”
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