Former Kaduna State Governor, Nasir el-Rufai, has clapped back at Daniel Bwala, Special Adviser to President Bola Tinubu on Policy Communication, over remarks regarding his criticism of the All Progressives Congress (APC).
El-Rufai, speaking at a national conference on Strengthening Democracy in Nigeria, accused the APC of abandoning its core values, stating that the party has become unrecognizable.
“I am a 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 said.
Bwala, responding to El-Rufai’s comments, questioned whether the former Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) would have voiced the same concerns if he had been part of Tinubu’s cabinet.
The remark referenced the Senate’s decision to withhold El-Rufai’s clearance for a ministerial appointment on August 7, 2023, citing security concerns.
Firing back at Bwala in a post on X, El-Rufai dismissed the notion that his stance was influenced by not being part of Tinubu’s government.
“The pathetic manner in which 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,” El-Rufai wrote.
“If I had remained in the Tinubu government, I would have said or done the same on the tragedy within a party I founded, and the government that emerged from it — first in private sessions with those concerned, and then go public if no remedial actions are taken.”