Former Governor of Kaduna State, Mallam Nasir El-Rufai has said former President Goodluck Jonathan lost re-election in 2015 due to his attitude towards the North, cautioning President Bola Tinubu against repeating the same mistake.
He said many supporters from President Bola Tinubu’s South West geopolitical zone were antagonising the North and would learn the same lesson as Jonathan’s men in 2027 if not cautioned.
El-Rufai disclosed this in a lengthy statement released on Tuesday titled, “2027: South West, Tinubu’s Supporters Playing With Fire”.
According to El-Rufai, the North remains the kingmaker in Nigerian politics irrespective of anyone’s opinion.
He said, “Less than two years into the tenure, we are witnesses to how the relationship between the North and President Bola Tinubu or rather his administration is quickly deteriorating, driven by the words and conduct of unfortunately, many from the President’s geopolitical zone and tribe. Truth be told.
“I have read and heard the arrogant posturing and braggadacio by some people who I refer to as political rabble rousers, but I get more worried each day as it keeps looking more and more like a movie we had seen before.”
He added, “May I remind some persons that, more than the performance or lack thereof of the President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan administration, it was his attitude, and that of people around him, towards the North that ultimately brought him down and by extension the PDP that had boasted that it would rule Nigeria for 60 years.”
He maintained that despite the popularity of General Muhammadu Buhari and the gathering of political heavyweights under the umbrella of the then newly formed APC in the lead up to the 2015 presidential election, Jonathan might not have been defeated.
He stated, “One key factor that led to former President Jonathan and the PDP losing that election was underestimating the North and the disrespect and insult directed towards to North, notably led by the then first lady and accentuated by elements from the South South geopolitical zone and particularly his Ijaw kinsmen, many of them with little or no political weight and many of whom were living full time in NICON and Sheraton Hotels Abuja then (with newly found free money).”
“Today, as I Iook at the rambunctiousness of some APC members and fellow supporters of President Bola Tinubu, especially from the south west geopolitical zone, I wonder if people have any sense of history and if they truly understand Nigerian politics.
“I read some people say that President Tinubu is not former President Jonathan, Jagaban is a political juggernaut and master strategist, etc. All that I totally agree with. No question whatsoever. However, politics is not a one champion show.
“While fPGEJ lacked equivalent political gravitas and sophistication (with all due respect to him) as PBAT, he had the then formidable PDP behemoth which could have actually seen him through but for the grievous ‘political mistake’ of messing with the North.
“Love or loathe that fact, the North remains the kingmaker in Nigerian politics, at least, as of today. Any politician or political party that plays with that reality might pay a steep political price for it.”
