A chieftain of the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC), Buba Galadima, has accused President Bola Tinubu and his associates of being ungrateful to former Kaduna State Governor, Nasir El-Rufai, despite what he described as the former governor’s contributions to Tinubu’s emergence as president in the 2023 election.
Galadima made the remarks during an interview on the Naija Unfiltered Podcast, where he said he had previously warned El-Rufai about the worsening relationship between him and the President.
According to him, he advised the former Kaduna governor to consider staying outside the country because of what he perceived as potential danger following the breakdown in his relationship with Tinubu.
“Tinubu and his people are ingrates as far as El-Rufai is concerned. I’m not the best friend of El-Rufai. In fact, I advised him that he should be careful of the way he carries himself, that he either goes on exile or they will jail him,” Galadima said.
He said he had raised concerns about El-Rufai’s situation in interviews with the BBC and other Nigerian television stations.
Galadima further disclosed that he approached former Kano State Governor, Rabiu Kwankwaso, to persuade El-Rufai against returning to Nigeria after learning that the former Kaduna governor was planning to return from Egypt.
“I went and met Kwankwaso and told Kwankwaso that he should beg El-Rufai not to come back. These people do not mean well to him,” he said.
He explained that Kwankwaso subsequently contacted El-Rufai, who initially deferred his return before later announcing another date and eventually coming back to Nigeria.
Galadima described El-Rufai’s decision to return as courageous, considering what he portrayed as the determination of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) to retain power.
He alleged that the APC could deploy extreme measures to remain in power because of the possible consequences its leaders could face should they lose control of government.
“The desperation with which the APC is going, they can do anything under the sun to come back to power, because they know what it entails if they lose power; what they have done to people will visit them,” Galadima said.
