Senator Ali Ndume has said the political woes of former Kaduna State governor, Nasir El-Rufai, may not be unconnected with his alleged betra...
Senator Ali Ndume has said the political woes of former Kaduna State governor, Nasir El-Rufai, may not be unconnected with his alleged betrayal of former Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi.
Ndume, who was the Director-General of Amaechi’s presidential campaign in 2022, said El-Rufai was initially with their camp before switching allegiance to President Bola Tinubu.
Speaking during an interview on ARISE News, the Borno South lawmaker recalled how El-Rufai promised to support Amaechi during his consultation in Kaduna, only to dump the former minister and align with Tinubu.
He said while he doesn’t take pleasure in El-Rufai’s current predicament, he believes it is a form of payback.
“El-Rufai was supposed to be on our side but somehow, he moved over. I think these are part of the things that are frustrating him today”, Ndume said.
The Borno senator said El-Rufai fully mobilized for Tinubu’s campaign after abandoning the Amaechi team, describing the switch as sudden and disheartening.
“He was fully in our group. Then suddenly he shifted. Tinubu asked him to join the government. But look at what happened,” Ndume added.
After Tinubu won the presidential election, he nominated El-Rufai for a ministerial role, but the Senate rejected the former governor.
Ndume said he was among those in the Senate Chamber when El-Rufai came for screening and was almost cleared without questioning.
“But he did what he did. So sometimes I say, ‘okay o, you did that to us, and now it’s like nemesis’,” the senator remarked.
El-Rufai, who recently resigned from the APC and joined the Social Democratic Party (SDP) is now seen as a key figure in a growing anti-Tinubu movement.
Ndume, however, noted that he no longer has close ties with El-Rufai since the incident.
“I don’t know what really went wrong between them, but it’s not my business,” he said.
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