Former Kaduna State Governor, Mallam Nasir El-Rufai,, has boldly alleged that the government of President Bola Tinubu is worse than any military regime Nigeria has ever experienced.
Speaking when he hosted former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar at the weekend, El-Rufai said the Tinubu government is a “disgrace to democratic ideals”.
Atiku visited El-Rufai over the attack which occurred during the inauguration of the African Democratic Congress (ADC) in Kaduna State.
When Atiku visited him, El-Rufai claimed that the present government is tilting towards authoritarianism, comparing Tinubu to President Paul Biya of Cameroon, who has held on to power since assuming office in 1982.
“Honestly sir, to me, it is even a disgrace. I mean, for people to behave the way they are behaving, it means that all the years of saying that we are for democracy and NADECO, all the claims that we are fighting for true federalism and so on—it was all a pretence, all fake again. Because this government (Tinubu’s administration) is trying to centralize everything instead of devolving power to the lower levels.”
“The sum total of this is that we are facing an evil of such a large proportion in the history of this country that if we don’t come together and end this Tinubu administration by 2027, Tinubu will try to be our Paul Biya. All the signs are there, this is how Paul Biya started,” said El-Rufai.
“You (Atiku Abubakar) are our leader, you have done this fight before, you have fought the military, you have experience in democratic governance. And when you and Obasanjo were in charge of this country, no one was being harassed because he had a different political feel, never, not once. Even President Buhari, with his military background, never did that, and here we are facing full-fledged civilians but they are worse than any military regime we’ve ever had.
“Your call that we must unite is a timely one. I think the people of Nigeria have made up their mind that APC must be voted out. Nigerians are looking forward to his (Tinubu’s) ouster. We must provide the leadership and the unity of purpose that we have talked about, and then I am sure with your leadership, forbearance and diplomatic skills of bringing people together, I am sure we will reach the Promised Land,” El-Rufai said.
