Former Kaduna State Governor, Nasir El-Rufai, has fired back at Reno Omokri, branding him a political mercenary ready to serve any government willing to pay.
The heated exchange follows Omokri’s criticism of El-Rufai for opposing federal funding of a rail project in Lagos and accusing him of harboring frustration over his exclusion from President Bola Tinubu’s cabinet.
El-Rufai had earlier shared an article by columnist Farooq Kperogi titled “Tinubu’s Buharisation of the NNPC,” which criticised the President for alleged favoritism in appointing his tribesmen to key positions in the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited.
Kperogi likened Tinubu’s actions to the alleged nepotism under former President Muhammadu Buhari.
In response, Omokri accused El-Rufai of attempting to destabilize the country, calling his comments about Tinubu’s appointments “coordinated falsehoods.”
Omokri, a former aide to ex-President Goodluck Jonathan, argued that El-Rufai’s criticisms were rooted in personal frustration.
He referenced El-Rufai’s silence during Buhari’s administration when Northern appointments were prevalent.
“Under Buhari, Nigeria took out a $2 billion loan to build a railway in Niger Republic. Did El-Rufai complain then? Not at all! But today, he attacks Tinubu for funding a rail project in Lagos, which contributes 35% of Nigeria’s GDP,” Omokri said in posts shared on his social media platforms.
Omokri further accused El-Rufai of hypocrisy, noting, “Imagine Nasir El-Rufai, a man who admitted to using government money to pay killer herdsmen, now criticizing Tinubu’s administration for funding infrastructure development.”
El-Rufai dismissed Omokri’s claims as baseless, recalling a past allegation of identity theft against Omokri, where an American woman accused him of impersonation to discredit Nigeria’s former Central Bank Governor, Lamido Sanusi.
“The interesting life cycle of Wendell Simlin, also sometimes retained as a political mercenary by any person or government that can pay,” El-Rufai wrote in a post, sharing pictures of Omokri’s previous protests against Tinubu’s election.
Former Kaduna Central Senator, Shehu Sani, also criticises El-Rufai, accusing him of double standards.
Sani pointed out El-Rufai’s silence during Buhari’s alleged nepotism and said, “Kaduna was an apartheid state for eight years under El-Rufai, yet he finds his voice now.”
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