Reno Omokri
Reno Omokri, a former presidential aide, says Nasir el-Rufai, a former governor of Kaduna, cannot determine the fate of President Bola Tinubu in the 2027 presidential election.
In a post published via X on Tuesday, Omokri said el-Rufai did not “deliver” a victory for Tinubu in Kaduna state during the last election.
Reacting to an interview by el-Rufai, the ex-presidential aide said the former governor’s comment that power was given to Tinubu by some persons in the north is false.
“Nasir el-Rufai’s claim that ‘we’ gave power to the South is a very false claim. Nigerians gave power to President Bola Tinubu, not Nasir el-Rufai,” Omokri said.
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“Nasir el-Rufai is reminded that candidate Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu lost the Presidential election in Kaduna State. He polled 29.36% of the votes, equal to 399,293.
“The Peoples Democratic Party candidate convincingly won the Presidential election in Kaduna with 40.76% of the votes totalling 554,360.
“So, who is the “we” that Nasir el-Rufai refers to?
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“If then Governor Mohammed Badaru Abubakar had said such a thing, it could make sense, having delivered 45.78% of the votes of his state, totalling 421,390 to Asiwaju Tinubu, making him the winner of the Presidential election in Jigawa.
“Ditto for then Governor Bello Matawalle, who secured 59.33% of the votes in his state for candidate Tinubu to win the election in Zamfara with almost 300,000 votes.
“If Malam Nasir el-Rufai could not deliver a victory in his state to Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu in 2023, then the only thing he can take back in 2027, God sparing all our lives, is his failure.”
During an interview with Arise TV in February, el-Rufai was asked if he would support the election of a southern president in 2027 since he supported one in 2023.
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The former governor said he cannot answer the question because he was not yet sure if he would be a member of the APC in 2027.
“As a private citizen, I can afford to be reckless and say you know what, we gave southerners their chance, they gave us Tinubu. If he has not done well by 2027, let’s vote him out. I would prefer a southerner to succeed Tinubu,” el-Rufai had said.
In March, el-Rufai resigned his membership of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and joined the Social Democratic Party (SDP).
Since his departure from APC, the former governor has been wooing opposition leaders to SDP, in a bid to unseat Tinubu in 2027.
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