Buba Galadima, a chieftain of the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC), has accused President Bola Tinubu and his associates of ingratitude toward former Kaduna State governor Nasir El-Rufai, despite El-Rufai’s role in Tinubu’s 2023 presidential victory.
Galadima made the allegation during an interview on the Naija Unfiltered podcast, where he said he had warned El-Rufai to go into exile after his relationship with Tinubu turned sour.
“Tinubu and his people are ingrates as far as El-Rufai is concerned. I’m not El-Rufai’s best friend. In fact, I advised him to be careful about how he carries himself — that he should either go into exile or they will jail him,” he said.
Galadima said he had publicly expressed concerns about El-Rufai’s situation in interviews with the BBC and Nigerian television stations. He also claimed he had approached former Kano State governor Rabiu Kwankwaso to persuade El-Rufai not to return to Nigeria after El-Rufai indicated he was coming back from Egypt.
“I went and met Kwankwaso and told him to beg El-Rufai not to come back. These people do not mean well to him,” Galadima said.
According to Galadima, Kwankwaso contacted El-Rufai, who initially postponed his planned return before later announcing another date and coming back to the country.
Galadima described El-Rufai’s decision to return as an act of bravery, given what he characterised as the ruling All Progressives Congress’ determination to retain power. He alleged the APC could resort to any means to remain in office because its leaders fear the consequences if they lose power.
“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,” he said.
