The Bola Tinubu Presidency has mocked a budding political coalition being spearheaded by former Kaduna State governor, Nasir El-Rufai, describing it as a camp of “internally displaced politicians” with no real direction or electoral value.
The jab came from President Bola Tinubu’s Special Adviser on Policy Communication, Daniel Bwala, who took to his verified X (formerly Twitter) handle to respond to El-Rufai’s latest media onslaught against the president.
El-Rufai, in an interview aired Tuesday night on Arise Television’s Prime Time, delivered a scathing critique of Tinubu’s leadership, claiming the Nigerian president has lost massive public support.
According to the former minister, Tinubu’s approval rating in Northern Nigeria and the Southeast has plummeted to as low as 9 percent, rendering his chances of re-election virtually impossible.
“Tinubu cannot return as president with a 91 percent disapproval rating in the North and the Southeast,” El-Rufai declared during the interview, before also describing Tinubu’s cabinet as a “joke” that lacks quality.
But Bwala, in a sharp rebuttal, dismissed El-Rufai’s assertions as unfounded and reeking of political bitterness.
“I listened to the interview of my elder brother @elrufai Nasir El-Rufai, on Prime Time Arise TV tonight,” Bwala wrote on X.
“He didn’t say anything new or outside the realm of what anyone in the opposition or coalition would say.”
He accused El-Rufai of attempting to “re-write history” without offering any credible proof to back his claims.
“What is however strange is how he tried to re-write history, and his facts were not supported by any shred of evidence,” Bwala said.
Taking a direct swipe at the coalition El-Rufai referenced, one that reportedly involves other opposition heavyweights like Labour Party’s Peter Obi and PDP’s Atiku Abubakar, Bwala derided it as a gathering of “internally displaced politicians.”
“Their coalition is still an association of internally displaced politicians formed for a wild goose chase. Dead on arrival,” he added.
While El-Rufai had clarified during the interview that no political party had yet been adopted by the coalition, the remarks have triggered a fierce war of words, signaling what could become a heated political showdown ahead of the 2027 elections.
Former Political Adviser to President Bola Tinubu, Dr Hakeem Baba-Ahmed, had also described the leading figures behind the emerging opposition coalition as the same old political actors who are unfit to spearhead any credible challenge against Tinubu’s All Progressives Congress (APC).
Speaking on Arise News on Monday, the former spokesperson for the Northern Elders Forum (NEF), dismissed the coalition’s promise of renewal, warning that its leadership lacks the moral and political credibility to inspire Nigerians.
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