A chieftain of the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC), Buba Galadima, has accused President Bola Tinubu and his associates of being ungrateful to former Kaduna State Governor Nasir El-Rufai despite what he described as El-Rufai’s contribution to Tinubu’s victory in the 2023 presidential election.
Galadima made the allegation during an interview on the Naija Unfiltered Podcast, where he also said he had advised El-Rufai to leave Nigeria after his relationship with Tinubu deteriorated.
“Tinubu and his people are ingrates as far as El-Rufai is concerned. I’m not the best friend of El-Rufai. In fact, I advised him that he should be careful of the way he carries himself, that he either goes on exile or they will jail him,” he said.
Galadima said he had previously raised concerns about El-Rufai’s situation during interviews with the BBC and Nigerian television stations.
He also said he approached former Kano State Governor Rabiu Kwankwaso and asked him to persuade El-Rufai against returning to Nigeria after the former Kaduna governor indicated that he planned to return from Egypt.
“I went and met Kwankwaso and told Kwankwaso that he should beg El-Rufai not to come back. These people do not mean well to him,” Galadima said.
According to Galadima, Kwankwaso subsequently contacted El-Rufai, who initially delayed his return before later announcing a new date and eventually coming back to Nigeria.
Galadima described El-Rufai’s decision to return to the country as courageous, considering what he characterised as the ruling All Progressives Congress’ determination to remain in power.
He alleged that the APC could employ any means necessary to retain power because of the potential consequences its leaders could face if they were defeated.
“The desperation with which the APC is going, they can do anything under the sun to come back to power, because they know what it entails if they lose power; what they have done to people will visit them,” he said.