Bayo Onanuga
Bayo Onanuga, special adviser to the president on information and strategy, has tackled Nasir el-Rufai, former governor of Kaduna, over his comment against the administration of President Bola Tinubu.
Speaking in an interview with Arise Television programme, el-Rufai said Tinubu would require a miracle to secure re-election in 2027.
El-Rufai said a poll conducted by his group in various regions, particularly in the south-east and north, showed a 91 percent disapproval rating for the president.
The former Kaduna governor added that the disapproval rating in Lagos stands at 78 percent.
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In a post published on X on Wednesday, Onanuga referenced a remark made by former President Olusegun Obasanjo in his three-part memoir — My Watch — against el-Rufai
Onanuga said the former Kaduna governor is always trying to elevate himself, giving the impression of having more “height” than he actually does.
“Nasir’s penchant for reputation savaging is almost pathological. Why does he do it? Very early in my interaction with him, I appreciated his talent,” Onanuga posted excerpt from Obasanjo’s book.
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“At the same time, I recognised his weaknesses; the worst being his inability to be loyal to anybody or any issue consistently for long, but only to Nasir el-Rufai.
“He lied brazenly, which he did to me, against his colleagues and so-called friends. I have heard of how he ruthlessly savaged the reputation of his uncle, a man who, in an African setting, was like a foster father to him.
“I shuddered when I heard the story of what he did to his half-brother in the Air Force, who is senior to him in age”.
In the memoir published in 2014 Obasanjo said el-Rufai is battling from the “small man syndrome”.
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The former president appointed el-Rufai as the minister of the federal capital territory (FCT) from 2003 to 2007.
El-Rufai is currently one of the opposition political leaders organising a coalition to unseat Tinubu in the 2027 presidential election.
In March, the el-Rufai resigned his membership of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and joined the Social Democratic Party (SDP).
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