Former Kaduna State Governor, Nasir El-Rufai, has revealed that he and other politicians were aware of the controversy surrounding President Bola Tinubu’s academic records from Chicago State University but still supported his 2023 presidential bid.
In an interview with the BBC, El-Rufai stated that their backing was based on Tinubu’s track record as Lagos State governor, believing he would bring similar development to Nigeria.
“What pains me is that the government we supported, believing it would perform well, has not met expectations. We knew about Tinubu’s Chicago issue, but we reasoned that if he could replicate what he did in Lagos, it would be worth supporting him,” El-Rufai said.
His comments come after he recently distanced himself from Tinubu’s administration and the All Progressives Congress (APC), officially defecting to the Social Democratic Party (SDP) on March 10, 2025.
Since joining the SDP, El-Rufai has been actively engaging politicians, urging them to join the party in a bid to challenge the APC in the 2027 elections.
As part of his political maneuvering, he has met with Pastor Tunde Bakare and former Tinubu ally, Rauf Aregbesola.
He has also extended invitations to former Vice President Atiku Abubakar and Labour Party’s 2023 presidential candidate, Peter Obi, to join his new political movement.
Amid speculations that his defection is a strategy to position himself for the 2027 presidential race, El-Rufai dismissed the claims, stating that the decision is not his to make.
“It is not for me to decide; it is up to the party and the people. Even when I ran for governor, it was people who convinced Muhammadu Buhari to call on me to contest,” he said.
