It is amazing the length the former Governor of Kaduna State, Mallam Nasir el-Rufai, would usually go to wreck maximum havoc. Perhaps the greatest weapon in el-Rufai’s arsenal is his uncanny ability to deploy warped logic to obfuscate raw and irrefutable facts. Using what he assumes to be sophistry, el-Rufai at all times seeks to sow the seed of discord and pitches leaders against the led. Even as an influential Minster of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) during the Obasanjo administration, el-Rufai perpetually pitched that government against the people and brought so much opprobrium to that government in spite of the best efforts of the legendary Chief Olusegun Obasanjo.

Similarly, as Governor of Kaduna State for eight years, he unconscionably reaped unmerited political dividends by pitting unsuspecting groups and persons against each other. He left the state soaked in tension, insecurity and huge debt. Thank God for the phenomenal leadership qualities of his young successor, Senator Uba Sani, who has since assumption of office in May 2023, been busy cleaning up the huge mess el-Rufai left behind. Governor Sani, who was recently named Nigeria’s Governor of The Year (2024), has been doing an exceedingly great job uniting the people and opening up rural communities across Kaduna State irrespective of the ethnic or religious inclinations of the good people residing in the 23 local government areas of the state. No wonder that for the first time in decades, Kaduna has been enjoying relative peace, safety, security and sustainable development. May the beautiful state never again be governed by a divisive and mischievous leader like Mallam el-Rufai.

El-Rufai is at it again. He has returned to a familiar path: a foolish mission to destabilise and possibly bring down the administration of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu at all costs. El-Rufai, typically is bent on sacrificing any and everything on sight to achieve this. He knows that to get to Tinubu, he would need to contend with staunch supporters of the President. So, it comes to no one as a surprise that he has been concocting and spreading childish and unfounded lies against Governor Sani, a known ally of President Tinubu.

Speaking of the mess el-Rufai left behind in Kaduna. It is public knowledge that Governor Sani inherited a staggering debt burden of $587million, N85 billion and N115 billion contractual liabilities from Nasir el-Rufai. And that is even putting it mildly. Governor Uba Sani also inherited hundreds of abandoned projects that had already guzzled huge sums of money, allegedly paid out to faceless contractors and ‘Consultants’. I will not even dwell on this since many of the persons involved in this possible heist are currently being prosecuted by anti-corruption agencies in competent courts.

Typically, deploying subterfuge, fallacy, and deliberate falsification of facts, el-Rufai was at his destructive best at a recent gathering of fellow disgruntled politicians in Abuja, mischievously dubbed a “National Conference”. It was not a conference of any sort; it was just a gathering of power mongers who are obviously united by their anger and distraught for being left out of the administration of President Ahmed Bola Tinubu. Most miserable of the lot at the ‘Conference’ were known members of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), who for selfish reasons, want the Tinubu administration ousted at all costs. They do not even care if the nation’s hard-won democracy is endangered in the process. El Rufai at the sordid event sought to incite the populace against not just the President but against the ruling APC at large.

According to him, “I no longer recognise the APC. No party organ has met in two years; no caucus, no NEC, nothing. You don’t even know if it is a one-man show; it’s a zero-man show. The problems that led to the creation of the APC remain unresolved, but I no longer believe the APC is interested in addressing them. The distance between me and the party is widening.” The very loquacious former Governor el-Rufai, echoed the earlier position of former Vice President Atiku Abubakar that the APC and President Tinubu were bribing persons in opposition parties in order to destroy their respective parties.

“The way and manner opposition political parties are being targeted for destruction, and the style and quality of governance in this country today are a national emergency. It should concern everyone. And I think this is a problem for all of us to think about and play a role in changing because, as His Excellency (Atiku) said, we stand the risk of losing democracy itself,” el-Rufai said.

Recall also that the same El Rufai had earlier dismissed the Tinubu government as one being run by illiterates. “You cannot afford to have illiterates, semi-illiterates, and cunning people as your leaders. This is why we end up with the poor leadership we have today,” he said.

Apparently amused by the hypocrisy of several of the politicians who attended and spoke at this “National Conference”, persons familiar with their antecedents have been reacting. On his part, Governor Sani, in his usual intelligent but blunt manner, dismissed them as persons merely scheming to grab power at all costs and not that they genuinely mean well for the people.

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