Taking another swipe at the current administration for the umpteenth time, former governor Nasir El-Rufai said the federal government under Tinubu was the most lying government that depended on false propaganda, especially on security challenges bedeviling the country.
Addressing what was wrong with the government, when asked, he said, “I should ask you. Can you afford three square meals? Can your salary buy what it used to buy two years ago? I should ask you. There is nothing wrong with the government?”
Refuting claims by the government that security had improved in the country, he added that the insecurity in the country was due to the federal government’s failure to proffer deeper solutions to address what he termed the prevailing security challenges from their roots.
He stressed that many local government areas in Katsina, Zamfara and Sokoto States were under the control of bandits, adding that bandits and terrorists’ leaders like Dogo Gide, Mallam Abba and Bello Turji had not been killed.
“I have said it before, this is the worst federal government in Nigeria’s history and all the indices have shown it. This is the most corrupt and most intolerant government in Nigeria.
“This is the most lying government that depends on false propaganda. They lied that security has improved in Nigeria. They read out numbers of bandits killed except the ones we know are the leading bandits.
“In Kaduna, Dogo Gide is still around, Mallam Abba, the Boko Haram terrorist is still alive. Bello Turji is still around but everyday, they announce names of people that are bandits’ leaders that they have killed and security has improved.
“How many local governments are under the occupation of bandits in Katsina State? How many are occupied by bandits in Zamfara State and some parts of Sokoto State? And because you are in government you think that nothing would happen, things will remain like that?
“It’s okay, you are free to engage in your grand delusion, but when you eliminate the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth,” El-Rufai said.
On his support for Tinubu’s campaign in 2023, he said, “I was a state governor. Go and ask what I did in my state. Don’t even make me part of the federal government.
“Between 2015 and 2023, I was not part of it. What you can ask me and I can defend my tenure is what I did in Kaduna between 2015 and 2023. I had very little to do with the federal government.
“I was among those that formed the APC and I campaigned for president Buhari, (and of course the current president). Yes, I did. He was the candidate of my party and I campaigned for him. I was never part of his government.”
El-Rufai, who described SDP as a party with a long history and credibility, said, “but we have to build it. We have to build it almost from scratch. In the last presidential election, it got less than 100,000 votes, compared to millions of votes that the leading parties got, so we have a lot of work to do.
“We have the will and we have the human resources to work on it. That’s part of the reason why I’m here in Katsina and I’ll be moving from state to state, working with the leaders in every state to try to build this party.
“We have to build it just as we built the APC from the ground up. It’s hard work, it’s risky work. We will succeed by the grace of God, but even if we fail, let it go down in history that some people tried and stood up to challenge tyranny and incompetence and grand corruption at all levels. This is what we are trying to do.
Responding to the APC chairman’s remarks that nobody could unseat Tinubu in 2027, he said, “I have nothing to say. Silence is usually the best answer to people like that.
“The quality of governance in the country is appalling. This is the worst government in Nigeria’s history. I’m 65 years old. I have seen every government in Nigeria since independence. This is the worst.
“And if they think that nothing will happen, that Nigerians are helpless, that all of us will just fold our arms and allow this country to be run aground, they are making a mistake. Nigerians will challenge them. Nigerians will teach them a lesson. Nigerians will put their arrogance to rest by the special grace of God.”
The erstwhile Kaduna governor, hinted that he was in Katsina to condole with Governor Dikko Umaru Radda over the demise of his mother.
“I came to Katsina state to condole with the governor of the state on the death of his mother, as well as condole with my elder brother, who also lost his grand-uncle, and use the opportunity to catch up with my colleagues and leaders of the Social Democratic Party (SDP).
“The state chairman happened to be my classmate in Barewa College. We first met in Barewa College in 1972. We have a long relationship. I said it’s a good opportunity to meet with him, as well as other political leaders in Katsina that we are trying to persuade to join the SDP.
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