The verbal sparring between former Kaduna State Governor Nasir El-Rufai and Presidential Media Aide Daniel Bwala continued on Thursday, with El-Rufai standing firm on his criticism of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and its leadership under President Bola Tinubu.
El-Rufai had first stirred the pot on Monday during a national conference in Abuja, where he publicly stated that he no longer recognized the APC, accusing it of devolving into a “one-man show.”
He also blasted the party’s leadership, lamenting that “illiterates, semi-illiterates, and cunning people” were at the helm, leading to the country’s current “poor leadership.”
Bwala quickly fired back on X (formerly Twitter), questioning whether El-Rufai would have voiced such criticisms if he had been serving in the Cabinet of President Tinubu.
“My Senior brother, if you were to be in the government and cabinet, would you have held and expressed the same position?” Bwala asked. “History is replete with examples. It is a government you participated in its formation, that you now want to unseat. Haba Mallam.”
El-Rufai’s response on X was sharp, defending his position and his integrity.
“I was a cabinet minister 22 years ago, and I made it clear to Asiwaju that I was not interested in any position in his future government,” he retorted.
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“The pathetic manner all of you later-day converts to the Tinubu government make an issue of something I never wanted in the first place is a reflection of the level of your moral flexibility.”
El-Rufai went on to further explain that had he remained in Tinubu’s government, he would have acted the same way regarding the party’s internal issues.
“If I had stayed in the Tinubu government, I would say or do the same on the tragedy within a party I was a founder of, and the government that emerged from it,” he said.
“First in private, then publicly if no remedial actions are taken. Go and check my public service record from 1998.”
El-Rufai had been nominated by Tinubu for a ministerial position in August 2023, but the nomination was ultimately rejected by the Senate. Since then, he has notably distanced himself from APC events, rarely seen among party leaders or near the Aso Villa, the seat of the presidency, despite having been a key figure in Tinubu’s 2023 campaign.
The former governor’s absence from the political scene has only added fuel to speculation about his strained relationship with the current administration.
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