Nigeria Has Gone Backwards Under Tinubu’s APC Government — El-Rufai
Former Kaduna State Governor, Nasir El-Rufai, has declared that Nigeria is regressing under President Bola Tinubu’s administration, describing the country’s current situation as worse than under past governments.
El-Rufai, who recently defected from the All Progressives Congress (APC) to the Social Democratic Party (SDP), accused the Tinubu-led government of incompetence, nepotism, and straying from the founding ideals of the APC.
Speaking in Katsina during an interview with Deutsche Welle Hausa, El-Rufai said the nation is suffering from heightened insecurity, economic decline, and poor governance.
He said, “Ever since the assumption of office of Tinubu as Nigeria’s president, the country has begun to go backwards. Insecurity has increased, the economy is dwindling, affluent people are now poor, and ethnic profiling is on the rise.
“Whoever he is giving an appointment to must be someone he knows or from his tribe. They can dismiss that, but Nigerians are not stupid. There is no way your name is this, and they will say no, you are from Katsina.
“This kind of injustice, ethnic profiling, and theft that we are seeing is not what APC was built on. What we planned when we started building APC was a platform for justice, equity, competence, and national integration. But today, we see nothing but sheer injustice, nepotism, and disregard for those ideals,” El-Rufai said.
He added that the Tinubu-led administration was the most intolerant since Nigeria’s return to democracy in 1999 and was insensitive to the plight of the people.
Explaining his decision to join the SDP, El-Rufai said it is a party that would “rescue the masses from injustice.”
“So, whoever his party cheated or did something he felt was not right, the only party he sees is the SDP. So, don’t be surprised by the kind of people you see in this room and others that are not here — we are working together in broad daylight and midnight doing what we should do to strategise in order to salvage our people from what this government has put us through,” he stated.
Responding to concerns that his journey with the SDP could end like his earlier experience with the APC, El-Rufai said, “I did not leave APC; it’s the party that left me. Since Bola Tinubu became president, the country has started to go backwards. We told them what they are doing is not good, and they are always behaving like nobody can tell them anything.
“Even when they deny the allegation of nepotism, people are not blind or stupid. When they see the names, they know where they come from,” he said.
El-Rufai also recalled his meeting with APC leaders like Bisi Akande, Adams Oshiomhole, and Abdullahi Adamu to caution that the party had derailed from its founding vision.
Titilope Adako is a talented and intrepid journalist, dedicated to shedding light on the untold stories of Osun State and Nigeria. Through incisive reporting, she tackles a broad spectrum of topics, from politics and social justice to culture and entertainment, with a commitment to accuracy, empathy, and inspiring positive change.
