Former Kaduna State Governor, Nasir El-Rufai, has accused President Bola Tinubu of plotting to remain in office for life, describing him as a “fake democrat” who is centralising power instead of devolving it.
Speaking during a solidarity visit by former Vice President Atiku Abubakar in Abuja over a recent altercation at an African Democratic Congress (ADC) meeting in Kaduna, El-Rufai said Tinubu was taking after African leaders who refused to vacate power after decades in office.
El-Rufai, a founding member of the All Progressives Congress (APC) who supported Tinubu’s 2023 presidential bid, said:
“We are facing an evil of such a large proportion in the history of this country that if we don’t all come together and end this Tinubu administration by 2027, Tinubu will try to be our Paul Biya. He will stay, he will be president for life. All the signs are there. This is how Paul Biya started.”
He alleged that the Tinubu administration’s attacks on opposition parties were proof of its anti-democratic tendencies, adding:
“All the years of saying we are pro-democracy, NADECO, it was all pretence, it was all fake.”
El-Rufai urged Atiku to lead a united opposition to prevent Tinubu’s re-election in 2027, saying Nigerians were looking up to the ADC to provide leadership and an alternative platform.
Atiku, in response, lauded El-Rufai’s courage and agreed on the need for opposition unity. On his social media handles, he described those who allegedly attacked El-Rufai at the ADC event in Kaduna as “APC-sponsored thugs” and warned that Tinubu’s administration posed “the greatest risk to Nigeria’s democracy since the return of democratic governance.”
Meanwhile, Reno Omokri, a supporter of President Tinubu, said in a Channels TV interview that despite his closeness to former President Goodluck Jonathan, he would campaign “vigorously” for Tinubu’s re-election in 2027, expressing confidence that the President would win a second term.
