APC Govs Can Do Nothing About El-Rufai’s Ordeal – Sule

Nasarawa State Governor, Abdullahi Sule, says the Progressives Governors ‘ Forum (PGF) can’t do anything about the ministerial ordeal of former Kaduna State governor, Nasir El-Rufai.

El-Rufai hasn’t left the ruling party, according to Sule, who is a member of the PGF, the All Progressives Congress’ (APC) governors’ forum, despite being rejected by the National Assembly as a ministerial nominee in August 2023.

“El-Rufai has not left our party, he is still in our party”, Sule said on Channels Television’s Politics Today programme on Wednesday.

According to the unwritten principle of power rotation between the southern and northern regions of Nigeria, El-Rufai, one of the northern powerbrokers, demanded that the APC presidential ticket for the 2023 general elections be given to a candidate from the southern states. This was after the eight-year tenure of President Muhammadu Buhari, from the North-West geopolitical zone.

El-Rufai, who served as governor of Kaduna between May 2015 and May 2023, was vocal about electing former governor of Lagos to serve as the party’s party’s flag bearer in the most recent general elections.

The then Kaduna governor, alongside his northern colleagues, backed Tinubu against two other northern juggernauts who were also aspirants – – then Senate President Ahmad Lawan and ex-Jigawa governor, Mohammed Badaru.

In the February 2023 presidential election, Tinubu won the APC ticket and won the presidency of Nigeria.

Three months after his inauguration, Tinubu nominated El-Rufai as one of his ministers in Nigeria’s political landscape, where compensation politics have become almost standard.

El-Rufai, however, was unable to stand up for what is currently in the current administration and was later rescinded by the Senate during the ministerial screening process. One of the reasons the Department of State Services’ security reasons was rejected by the upper legislative chamber was cited as one of the reasons.

Since the August 2023 incident, El-Rufai has not been seen in a gathering of APC chieftains. Additionally, the former governor hasn’t been seen in the Aso Villa, the seat of power, or close to the president, for whom he vigorously campaigned in the previous election. Conversely, El-Rufai has been seen with chieftains of the Social Democratic Party (SDP) fuelling defection rumours, which he has dismissed. His relationship with his successor, Sani Uba, in Kaduna, has turned sour with the state assembly probing his eight-year administration for alleged corruption.

Source: Channels TV