Nasir el-Rufai, a former governor of Kaduna state, has responded to remarks made by Daniel Bwala, the special adviser on policy communication to President Bola Tinubu.
On January 28, el-Rufai criticized the All Progressives Congress (APC), stating that the party had deviated from its founding principles and no longer felt familiar to him.
Speaking at a national conference on strengthening democracy in Abuja, he expressed his disillusionment with the party’s leadership structure.
“I am the founding member of the APC. But frankly, I no longer recognise the APC. No party organ has met in two years — no caucus, no NEC, nothing. I don’t even know if it is a one-man show. It is a zero-man show,” he declared.
Following el-Rufai’s remarks, Bwala questioned whether the former minister would have held the same view if he had been appointed to Tinubu’s cabinet.
The Senate had previously withheld el-Rufai’s ministerial confirmation on August 7, 2023, due to security concerns.
Responding via a post on X (formerly Twitter) on January 30, el-Rufai dismissed Bwala’s remarks, criticizing what he described as the blind loyalty of those in the Tinubu administration.
“The pathetic manner all of you latter-day converts to the Tinubu government make an issue of something that I never wanted in the first place is perhaps a reflection of the level of your moral flexibility,” he wrote.
El-Rufai maintained that his position on the APC’s current state would have remained unchanged even if he had been part of the Tinubu administration.
He revealed that he had informed the president he was not interested in any government appointment, recalling his previous experience as a cabinet minister over two decades ago.
“I was cabinet minister 22 years ago, and was clear to Asiwaju that I was not interested in any position in his future government,” he added.
He advised Bwala to focus on his role and reflect on his responsibilities, remarking:
“Enjoy your special adviser position, my brother, but remember that allegiance to God and country comes first in human scale of accountability, before any person or authority.”
In a separate response to a follower urging him to remain in the APC, el-Rufai reiterated his discontent with the party’s trajectory.
“However, is it not self-evident that it is the APC that has left me stuck in the ideals and visions of its founding fathers and mothers?
“What do you suggest I do then? Please don’t suggest doing nothing. Our party and nation are facing an existential crisis of monumental proportions,” he stated.