Has el-Rufai Come to the End of the Road?

With the apparent crumbling of the ministerial bid of the former Governor of Kaduna State, Nasir El-Rufai, following the withholding of his confirmation by the Senate due to security-related concerns, Ejiofor Alike reports that the former governor’s perceived divisive utterances on religious and other national issues have finally put his political career under serious threat

Many Nigerians were not surprised when President Bola Tinubu submitted the name of the former Governor of Kaduna State, Malam Nasir El-Rufai to the Senate for screening as one of the ministerial nominees, given the former governor’s contributions to the success of the Muslim-Muslim ticket of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the last presidential election.

However, no sooner did Tinubu submit El-Rufai’s name to the Senate than an old video of the former governor boasting that he would not be minister resurfaced and provoked the ire of social media users.

El-Rufai said in the old video that it would not be fair for him to return as minister at his current age.

Speaking in Hausa, El-Rufai claimed that it would not be fair for him to occupy the ministerial position he had occupied at the age of 43 years.

 “You became a minister at 43 and after 20 years then you became a minister at 63? What of your children and younger brothers? Will they not become ministers? Is the position meant for you alone? I don’t like this. Let go of this topic.

“Thank God I was lucky that I became Minister of Abuja when I was 43. Next year, I will clock 63. Then I will go back. So, nobody among my younger brothers and children is capable of becoming a minister? You fail when you fail to train those to succeed you. I have trained a lot of people who are capable of succeeding in many areas,” El-Rufai added.

With El-Rufai’s name on the ministerial list, his critics said he was playing to the gallery in his characteristic style when he boasted that he would not be a minister.

Some of his critics, including a former senator from Kaduna State, Shehu Sani had described him as an opportunist, whose political career is characterised by switching loyalty and allegiance, political sycophancy and crass opportunism.

The former governor is accused by his critics of betraying all those who assisted him to attain his enviable status in his political career, including former President Olusegun Obasanjo, ex-Vice President Atiku Abubakar, former President Goodluck Jonathan, and very lately, former President Muhammadu Buhari.

He was known to have made disparaging remarks about these past leaders and other political, as well as socio-cultural leaders in the country at one time or the other.

El-Rufai had also reportedly disparaged many reputable Northern leaders and elders in the build-up to the 2023 general election, when he described them as mere paperweights who lacked the capacity to swing votes in anyone’s favour, declaring that the 19 northern governors were the real elders of the North.

The former Kaduna State governor did not spare foreigners in his unguarded utterances as he had also threatened that foreign election observers and monitors who interfered in the 2019 general election would return to their countries in body bags, a threat, which his critics believe, earned him a visa ban in one of the advanced countries.

He also gained notoriety for making what were widely perceived as inflammatory and divisive utterances on religious, ethnic and other national issues.

His utterances and alleged controversial conduct as the then Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) had also set him on a collision with the Senate, which then made unsuccessful attempts to ban him from holding public office for a number of years.

Apart from boasting that he would not be minister, having served as the FCT minister at the age of 43, the former Kaduna State governor had in the past declared that he did not believe in President Tinubu’s style of politics.

Speaking in Ikoyi, Lagos, at an event organised by the Bridge Club tagged, “An evening with His Excellency Mallam Nasir El-Rufai, Governor of Kaduna State,” held in May 2019, the former governor reportedly stated that he defeated and retired four political godfathers in his state, saying the feat could be replicated anywhere, including Lagos State.

The former governor was believed to be referring to Tinubu when he further explained in detail how any governorship aspirant in Lagos State could end godfatherism in the state.

Also, while speaking later at a webinar in commemoration of the 63rd birthday of the then Minister of Interior and former Governor of Osun State, Mr. Rauf Aregbesola, in May 2020, El-Rufai had declared that Tinubu was not his man.

This, he said, was due to the differences between him and the former Lagos governor.

The webinar tagged: ‘Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola Colloquium 2020,’ with the theme, ‘Government Unusual: Innovative economic solutions to unlock mass prosperity,’ was moderated by Boason Omofaye.

While congratulating the birthday celebrant, El-Rufai had reportedly said: “I want to congratulate my brother, Ogbeni (Aregbesola), on his birthday. You know I am your man any day. I am not Asiwaju’s man and you are Asiwaju’s man, but I am your man any day. Asiwaju and I have differences but you and I have no differences.”

His critics also accuse him of having a penchant to make divisive utterances on national issues.

He had provoked the ire of many Nigerians when he declared that the anti-open grazing laws enacted by the southern governors were not implementable.

The former governor was not known to have publicly condemned the activities of the rampaging herdsmen but was quick to describe the laws made to stop their atrocities as “populist legislation.”

His recent utterances on the Muslim-Muslim tickets in the 2023 presidential election were also viewed by his critics as having the capacity to potentially hurt the efforts of the Tinubu-led administration to heal the wounds of the last general election.

Immediately after the general election, El-Rufai, who addressed Muslim clerics in Hausa, narrated in a video how he agreed to reconcile with Tinubu before the general election for the sake of Islam, stressing that the Muslim dominance he established in Kaduna State could be replicated at the national level.

It was not surprising that the Middle Belt Forum (MBF) had in a statement by its National Publicity Secretary, Dr Isuwa Dogo, described him as a dangerous politician that must be avoided by President Tinubu.

The Chairman of the Kaduna State chapter of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), Reverend Joseph Hayab, had also accused him of setting traps for President Tinubu with his statement on the replication of Islamic dominance in Nigeria.

Many analysts were not surprised that the senate withheld his confirmation as minister over security screening.

However, the lawmakers also withheld the confirmation of Stella Okotete, and Senator Abubakar Danladi from Delta and Taraba states, respectively.

But during El-Rufai’s screening by the senate, the lawmaker representing Kogi West, Senator Sunday Karimi, had stood up and told his colleagues that he had a petition written against the former governor over the issue of killings in Southern Kaduna.

The Senate President, Senator Godswill Akpabio, however, refused to take the petition, revealing that a number of petitions were also submitted against some of the nominees.

Many analysts had thought that Akpabio shielded him from the embarrassment to ensure that he was confirmed until reports emerged that the lawmakers had withheld his confirmation.

While some sources claimed that the Senate withheld his confirmation because he was undergoing security checks, others claim that the security agencies wrote a damning report against him, requesting that his confirmation be put on hold.

A group of protesters under the aegis of Secure Nation Group (SNG) had also staged a protest at the premises of the National Assembly to call on the lawmakers not to confirm him as minister.

The protesters expressed surprise that his name was listed as a ministerial nominee despite his alleged religious colouration, which the group described as dangerous to the unity of the nation.

They called on the Tinubu-led government to investigate him over alleged genocidal attacks on Shia Muslims-dominated communities in Kaduna State.

However, in what was described as his effort to save himself from shame and national embarrassment, El-Rufai held a closed-door meeting with President Tinubu at the Presidential Villa last Wednesday where he reportedly withdrew his ministerial bid to pursue further studies abroad.

El-Rufai had suffered almost a similar national embarrassment before, which forced him into exile under the administration of the late President Umaru Yar’Adua.

However, he was welcomed with open arms by the administration of former President Jonathan, and returned to national prominence by former President Buhari on whose back he rode to become governor.

His critics however believe that his current travail would ruin his political career permanently due to the security implications.