ADVERTISEMENT
NEWS EXPRESS is Nigeria’s leading online newspaper. Published by Africa’s international award-winning journalist, Mr. Isaac Umunna, NEWS EXPRESS is Nigeria’s first truly professional online daily newspaper. It is published from Lagos, Nigeria’s economic and media hub, and has a provision for occasional special print editions. Thanks to our vast network of sources and dedicated team of professional journalists and contributors spread across Nigeria and overseas, NEWS EXPRESS has become synonymous with newsbreaks and exclusive stories from around the world.
Nasir El-Rufai, ex-Kaduna Governor
President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s Special Adviser on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, has berated former Kaduna State Governor, Nasir El-Rufai, for his comment against the President’s administration.
In an interview on a national television, El-Rufai had said President Tinubu would require a miracle to secure re-election in 2027.
El-Rufai also said a poll conducted by his group in various regions, particularly in the Southeast and the North, showed a 91 per cent disapproval rating for the President.
According to him, the disapproval rating in Lagos stands at 78 per cent.
In his post on X yesterday, Onanuga referenced a remark made by former President Olusegun Obasanjo in his three-part memoir, titled: My Watch — Against El-Rufai.
The presidential spokesman said the former Kaduna State governor always tried to elevate himself, giving the impression of having more “height” than he really stands.
“Nasir’s penchant for reputation savaging is almost pathological. Why does he do it? Very early in my interaction with him, I appreciated his talent,” Onanuga posted excerpt from Obasanjo’s book.
“At the same time, I recognised his weaknesses; the worst being his inability to be loyal to anybody or any issue consistently for long, but only to Nasir El-Rufai.
“He lied brazenly, which he did to me, against his colleagues and so-called friends. I have heard of how he ruthlessly savaged the reputation of his uncle, a man who, in an African setting, was like a foster father to him.
“I shuddered when I heard the story of what he did to his half-brother in the Air Force, who is senior to him in age.”
In the memoir published in 2014, Obasanjo said El-Rufai was battling what he called the “small man syndrome”.
The former President appointed El-Rufai the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) from 2003 to 2007.
El-Rufai is currently one of the opposition political leaders organising a coalition in their bid to unseat President Tinubu in the 2027 general election.
In March, the el-Rufai resigned his membership of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and joined the Social Democratic Party (SDP). (The Nation)
