Former Kaduna State governor, Mallam Nasir El-Rufai has sent strong message to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, All Progressives Congress (APC) and others after following ex-Vice President, Atiku Abubakar to visit former President, Muhammadu Buhari at his residence in Kaduna State.
HEADLINENEWS reports earlier that Atiku, El-Rufai, former Sokoto State governor, Aminu Tambuwal and other opposition leaders visited Buhari on Friday.
In his post, Atiku said the former President in his usual manner cracked them up with jokes during their time with him.
“As the Waziri Adamawa, I was obligated to be in my Adamawa during the Sallah celebrations. I held forth for the Lamido Fombina (Adamawa) in some of the activities of the Sallah celebrations.
“Today, I had the opportunity to pay a post-Sallah visit to His Excellency, Muhammadu Buhari, President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 2015-2023. It was a wonderful time with him. As usual, he cracked me up (to the extent that my ribs were hurting) with his peculiar humour,” he wrote.
The visit sparked fresh speculation about Atiku’s potential bid for the 2027 Nigerian presidency.
Atiku, El-Rufai and Peter Obi of the Labour Party had formed a coalition with the aim of removing President Bola Tinubu from power in 2027.
The former vice president announced the formation of the coalition during a press conference by Concerned Leaders and Political Stakeholders in Nigeria.
Following the announcement, a former presidential candidate of the Social Democratic Party, Adewale Adebayo, said Atiku and Obi were in talks to join the SDP.
He said if Atiku, Obi and other prominent politicians willing to join SDP can stick to the party’s culture, they would defeat and retire Tinubu and the APC.
However, addressing the speculation, El-Rufai in a tweet on Friday asked Tinubu, APC and others not to lose sleep over the visit, saying it was not related to politics.
Although the former FCT minister used the word ‘adversaries’, observers said it was a subtle way throw jab at the president, his party, Kaduna governor, Uba Sani and others.
He said; Former VP Atiku Abubakar, former Governors Aminu Tmbuwal (Sokoto), Achike Udenwa (Imo), Gabriel Suswam (Benue) and I, amkng others, were in Kaduna for Post-Sallah courtesies to former President Muhammadu Buhari.
“We joined over faithful for Jumaat prayers at the Yahaya Road Mosque and had a sumptuous lunch at the Buhari Residence. By the way, our adversaries should not lose any sleep. It is not about politics.
“It is about unity and brotherhood. And since we are all politically irrelevant, we just prayed and enjoyed lunch with our mentor.”
