A coalition of Gbagyi stakeholders in Kaduna has publicly condemned former Governor Nasir El-Rufai for launching what they called self-serving attacks on President Bola Tinubu’s administration.
Diaspora Digital Media (DDM) reports that Benjamin George, the coalition’s leader, said El-Rufai’s criticism stems from personal frustration after missing out on a ministerial appointment in the current government.
“We discovered that since former governor Nasir El-Rufai lost out on a ministerial slot in President Tinubu’s cabinet, he has remained inconsolable, launching repeated verbal assaults on the administration,” George said.
The group accused El-Rufai of marginalizing the Gbagyi people during his tenure as governor by demolishing homes without compensation, denying political appointments, and excluding them from key development initiatives.
Additionally, George accused El-Rufai of ordering the demolition of market stalls, neglecting to address rising insecurity, and infringing on citizens’ rights, including those of journalists.
Warning against El-Rufai’s reported plans to build a political coalition to challenge Tinubu in the 2027 elections, George described such moves as revenge-driven and doomed to fail.
He said, “It is very clear that his current move to mobilise politicians he had despised in the past to unseat President Tinubu in 2027, as a revenge for losing a ministerial position, is dead on arrival.”
The coalition pledged its full support for President Tinubu and Kaduna State Governor Uba Sani, praising their efforts to resolve challenges inherited from previous administrations.
“To this end, we have decided not to keep quiet and to tell the world categorically that the Gbagyi nation and the Middle Belt will never be part of any coalition orchestrated by Malam Nasir El-Rufai and his cohorts against President Tinubu,” George emphasized.
He urged Nigerians to disregard El-Rufai’s “utopian postulations and selfish machinations” and expressed confidence that the current administration will succeed.
The coalition also accused El-Rufai of running an autocratic government for eight years, specifically marginalizing Southern Kaduna’s Gbagyi and Christian communities.