“Good morning, Daniel Bwala. I was cabinet minster 22 years ago, and was clear to Asiwaju that I was not interested in any position. The pathetic manner all of you latter-day converts to the Tinubu camp make an issue of something that I never wanted in the first place a reflection of the level of your moral flexibility.
I am only responding to you because I still think you are a decent person who may need a job, and not in the class of Wendell Simlin and that Kaduna pretender that our voters retired in 2019 – these clowns are political mercenaries that receive a humongous monthly stipend from the security vote to defend everything the Asiwaju government does or fails to do, no matter how indefensible it may be.
Enjoy your special adviser position, my brother, but remember that allegiance to God and country comes first in human scale of accountability, before any person or authority.”
Speaking on Monday in Abuja at a national conference on strengthening democracy in Nigeria, El-Rufai had criticised the party for “straying away from its core values”.
“I am the founding member of the APC. But frankly, I no longer recognise the APC. No party organ has met in two years — no caucus, no NEC, nothing. I don’t even know if it is a one-man show. It is a zero-man show.
“Although I’m a founding member, the party has left me behind. We wanted to build a progressive party that would fight corruption, revive the economy, and restore security for Nigerians. That was our goal. But where is the APC now? I no longer recognize it. It’s left me behind. I still believe the primary purpose of political engagement in Nigeria remains to fix the economy, restore security, and fight corruption. But those issues are still unresolved,” he said.
Reacting, Daniel Bwala, special adviser on policy communication to President Tinubu, had asked if El-Eufai would have expressed the same position if he were a cabinet member.
On August 7, 2023, the senate withheld el-Rufai’s confirmation as minister over security clearance.
“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,” he said.
In his response to Bwala in a post on X on January 30, el-Rufai said “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”.
“If I had remained in the Tinubu government, I will say or do the same on the tragedy within a party I was a founder, and the government that emerged from it — first in private sessions with those concerned, and then go public if no remedial actions are taken,” the APC chieftain added.
El-Rufai said he had told Tinubu that he was not interested in any position in his government.
“I was cabinet minster 22 years ago, and was clear to Asiwaju that I was not interested in any position in his future government,” he said.
The ex-governor asked Bwala to enjoy his current office.
“I am only responding to you because I still think you are a decent person who may need a job,” el-Rufai added.
~ El-Rufai to Bwala
