Former Kaduna State governor Nasir El-Rufai said on Monday he was never friends with President Bola Tinubu and that his support for Tinubu in the 2023 election was based on party politics, not personal loyalty.
In an interview on Trust TV, El-Rufai said the idea that he and Tinubu were close is wrong.
“I was never Tinubu’s friend. We never had a personal relationship like the one I had with General Buhari of blessed memory,” he said.
El-Rufai explained that his decision to back Tinubu during the 2023 election came from discussions within the All Progressives Congress (APC) and political arrangements, not friendship.
“I was approached by certain Islamic stakeholders from the southwest to support the emergence of a southwest Muslim presidential candidate… it wasn’t about Tinubu; he was merely an accidental beneficiary,” he said.
He added that as a founder of the APC, he understood that power was expected to rotate to the south after President Muhammadu Buhari’s eight-year term, and that his support followed that understanding.
“It is a principle of mine to fight for the candidate of my party in every election, whether I like the candidate or not,” El-Rufai said.
El-Rufai also pointed to differences in governance philosophy between him and Tinubu’s administration, saying their paths diverged after the election.
“The philosophy of this government is contrary to everything I’ve been taught as a Muslim, a northerner, and a Nigerian,” he told the station.
His comments come amid ongoing speculation about political realignments ahead of the 2027 polls, and ongoing opposition campaigns against the government of the day.
