Ahead of the 2027 elections, the former Governor of Kaduna state, Mallam Nasir El-Rufai has said that in less than two years to the administration of President Bola Tinubu, the relationship between him and the North has deteriorated.
He said this is driven by the words and conduct of unfortunately, many from the President’s geopolitical zone and tribe.
El-Rufai, therefore, warned that he might be given the Goodluck Jonathan’s treatment in the 2027 elections.
The former governor had been having a running battle with his party, the All Progressives Congress (APC) and the Tinubu administration.
However, the animosity between El-Rufai and the APC-led federal government took a drastic turn when he fired another salvo in a post via his verified X handle on Tuesday saying the South West and Tinubu’s supporters are playing with fire.
He noted that while it was premature to be talking about 2027 elections less than 2 years into Tinubu’s first tenure, what was happening in the political arena was forcing him to speak to it, saying ‘a stitch in time saves nine’.
El-Rufai noted that as an APC member, he would naturally want his party to win re-election in 2027, adding that as a realist, he has his concerns.
El-Rufai recalled that during the 2019 party primaries, he saw the way the All Progressives Congress (APC) party was handling the Primaries, and wrote that if the party wasn’t careful, it could go the way of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) which lost power after 16 years.
He said he predicted then that if APC didn’t return to its promised progressive path and ideology and instead stayed obsessed with just winning elections at any and all cost, just like the PDP, the ruling party could lose power at the federal level by 2031.
El-Rufai added: “When I wrote that, we were not faced with the current situation we are faced with. Indeed, I never imagined that we would be in the current situation any time soon, surely not under President Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
“Note: I am not talking about the present economic situation and the likes. I am talking about the current and increasing ‘ghaghagha’ in our party and among APC members and supporters of the PBAT administration.
“Incidentally, many Nigerians have a short memory. Permit me to juggle the memories of some short memoried and uninitiated political neophytes.
“Many will recall that, as we approached the 2023 presidential election, with the conduct of some individuals, I desperately cautioned that we should be careful and not play with the North.
“Somehow, common sense prevailed, and we succeeded, unarguably and undeniably with the unquantifiable help of the North (the records of the election results prove so).
“Less than 2 years into the tenure, we are witnesses to how the relationship between the North and President Bola Tinubu or rather his administration is quickly deteriorating, driven by the words and conduct of unfortunately, many from the President’s geopolitical zone and tribe. Truth be told.
“I have read and heard the arrogant posturing and braggadacio by some people whom I refer to as political rabble rousers, but I get more worried each day as it keeps looking more and more like a movie we had seen before.
“May I remind some persons that, more than the performance or lack thereof of the President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan administration, it was his attitude, and that of people around him, towards the North that ultimately brought him down and by extension the PDP that had boasted that it would rule Nigeria for 60 years.”
El-Rufai added that in the lead up to the 2015 Presidential election, in spite of the popularity of General Muhammadu Buhari (rtd) and the gathering of political heavyweights under the umbrella of the then newly formed APC, one key factor that led to former President Jonathan and the PDP losing that election was underestimating the North and the disrespect and insult directed towards to North.