El-Rufai under fire over anti-Southwest, Tinubu comment

Kaduna State Governor Nasir El-Rufai was under fire yesterday for denigrating the contributions of Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu and his Southwest base to the victory of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the 2015 elections.

The Chairman of the Senate Committee on Local and Foreign Debts, Senator Shehu Sani, took a swipe at El-Rufai, describing the governor’s remarks on the APC stalwart as the height of ingratitude.

In a statement made available to NE, Sani, representing the Kaduna Central Senatorial District, said the contributions of the former Lagos State governor and the Southwest to the victory of the APC in the last general elections, was unparallel, contrary to El-Rufai’s claim.

According to him, without Tinubu, the victory over the then ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) would have remained a mere dream.

Describing Tinubu as the “lungs of the APC while President Buhari is the heart’, the senator said it was unfortunate that “el-Rufai, who smiles with Tinubu during the daylight, stings him at night”.

The statement reads: “The memo written by Kaduna Governor which tends to belittle the contribution of Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu and the Southwest is sad and unfortunate. It is perfidious and the height of ingratitude.

“We must accept the stalk truth that without Asiwaju Ahmed Bola Tinubu and the principled position of the south West, dislodging Goodluck Jonathan and the then ruling PDP could have still remained a pipe dream, a hollow hope or a political mirage. El-Rufai defecated on a broom that is supposed to clean the littered floor of the nation.

“President Buhari is the heart of APC and Asiwaju is the lungs. Tinubu’s contribution to the success of the party is unequal. El-Rufai smiles with Tinubu in broad daylight and stings him at night. He hugs Tinubu with a chest of hooks and shakes him with toxic palms.

“Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu is a man who built a castle for others to live and asked to appreciate the gift of a room in the boys’ quarters. Those who rubbished a hunter who borrowed them his arrow to disable an antelope will someday come back for same arrow to disable a lion.

“Tinubu honoured many official invitations to Kaduna, unknowingly; he was back-stabbed with an acidic memo. Tinubu has a history of being betrayed and has a history of overcoming betrayal.

“The future of the APC is with Buhari and the Southwest. Without Buhari and the Southwest, the change train will derail and end in smithereens like the fate of Yoguslavia or Soviet Union.

“President Buhari should be watchful of those who prey behind him and pray before him. Tinubu is an indispensable major component of change. My knowledge of Tinubu dates back to the NADECO days when we were in the trenches during the struggle against military dictatorship.

“El-Rufai should publicly apologise to Tinubu and the Southwest for degrading their contribution to the liberation of Nigeria. To insult a man publicly and apologise to him privately is eat your cake and have it. Those heavily drinking from the liquor of power should know that they will later or lately have to drive back home.”