Senator Ali Ndume, who represents Borno South in the National Assembly, has suggested that the political fallout between President Bola Tinubu and former Kaduna State governor Nasir El-Rufai may be karma for El-Rufai’s actions during the 2023 presidential primaries.
Ndume, who served as the director-general of the Rotimi Amaechi presidential campaign, claimed El-Rufai initially aligned with Amaechi but switched allegiance to Tinubu shortly before the primaries.
Speaking during an interview on Arise News on Tuesday, Ndume said El-Rufai’s frustration with Tinubu might stem from how events unfolded after that switch.
“El-Rufai was supposed to be on our side but somehow, he moved over,” Ndume said. “I think these are some of the things frustrating him. He was fully with us—Amaechi’s side—before Tinubu was nominated. But then, he changed course and gave Tinubu his full support. Tinubu even asked him to join the government.”
Ndume added that he hasn’t been close to El-Rufai since then, recalling how the former Kaduna governor heavily mobilized for Tinubu’s campaign.
“But sometimes I think to myself, ‘Well, you did it to us; now you’re getting your payback.’ I was the Senate Chief Whip when El-Rufai came for ministerial screening, and we were almost ready to let him just take a bow and go,” he said.
After winning the election, Tinubu nominated El-Rufai for a ministerial position, but the Senate ultimately rejected him. El-Rufai has since left the All Progressives Congress (APC) and joined the Social Democratic Party (SDP), where he has become a prominent critic of the Tinubu administration.
