Former Kaduna State Governor, Mallam Nasir El-Rufai, has launched a scathing attack on Daniel Bwala, Special Adviser to President Bola Tinubu on Public Communications and Media, dismissing him as a “political mercenary” and reaffirming his commitment to holding the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) accountable.
El-Rufai, in a statement on his X handle on Thursday, stated that he was only responding to Bwala because he still considered him a “decent person who may need a job,” unlike others whom he described as “political clowns” benefitting from government stipends.
The heated exchange stemmed from El-Rufai’s recent criticisms of the Tinubu administration and the APC. Bwala, in a direct response, questioned whether El-Rufai would have made such statements if he were still in government.
“My Senior brother, if you were to be in the government and cabinet, would you have held and expressed the same position? History is replete with examples. It is a government you participated in its formation, that you now want to unseat. Haba Mallam, a Ji soron Allah mana,” Bwala remarked.
Not one to back down, El-Rufai fired back at Bwala, asserting that he had no interest in serving under Tinubu and had made his stance clear from the onset.
“I was a cabinet minister 22 years ago and was clear to Asiwaju that I was not interested in any position in his future government,” he stated.
Mocking Bwala and other staunch defenders of the administration, El-Rufai described them as “latter-day converts” who blindly support every government action, regardless of its impact.
El-Rufai further accused certain political figures of being paid handsomely from security votes to act as the administration’s mouthpieces, rushing to social media to defend every government policy, no matter how flawed.
“The pathetic manner all of you latter-day converts to the Tinubu government make an issue of something that I never wanted in the first place is perhaps a reflection of the level of your moral flexibility,” he wrote.
“If I had remained in the Tinubu government, I would still say and do the same regarding the tragedy within a party I co-founded and the government that emerged from it—first in private sessions, then publicly if no corrective action was taken. My public service record since 1998 speaks for itself,” he added.
El-Rufai also took a swipe at unnamed individuals, including the infamous “Wendell Simlin” and a certain “Kaduna pretender,” whom he claimed had been rejected by voters in 2019 but continued to operate as political mercenaries.
Ending his remarks on a sharp note, El-Rufai reminded Bwala that true public service requires loyalty to God and country before any leader or political authority.
“Enjoy your special adviser position, my brother, but remember that allegiance to God and country comes first in the human scale of accountability, before any person or authority,” he concluded.
El-Rufai’s latest remarks add fuel to the ongoing internal crisis within the APC, as former allies turn critics of the ruling party. His refusal to align with the Tinubu administration has sparked speculation about his political future and potential ambitions beyond the APC.
Will this verbal battle escalate further, or is it a sign of deeper cracks within the ruling party? Only time will tell.
PIONEER NEWS 