El-Rufai vs. Omokri: A War of Words and Political Rivalries
By Abdulmajeed Abdullateef
December 30, 2024
In a fiery exchange that has captured the attention of Nigerian politics, former Kaduna State governor, Nasir El-Rufai, has hit back at Reno Omokri, a former aide to ex-President Goodluck Jonathan, following some biting remarks from Omokri. The argument started after Omokri criticized El-Rufai for allegedly showing frustration over not being appointed a minister by President Bola Tinubu. Omokri also took a swipe at El-Rufai’s criticism of the federal government’s rail project in Lagos, comparing it to the $2 billion loan Nigeria provided for a railway in Niger Republic during former President Buhari’s tenure.
Omokri questioned why El-Rufai did not raise concerns back then about the Niger project, and argued that Lagos, contributing 35% to Nigeria’s GDP, deserved the same federal support for its infrastructure.
El-Rufai, however, wasted no time in responding, calling Omokri “a political mercenary”—someone who simply aligns with whoever pays him. He also brought up a controversial past incident involving Omokri, where he was accused of identity theft in an attempt to falsely tie former Central Bank Governor Lamido Sanusi to Boko Haram.
The former governor’s posts on X (formerly Twitter) included pictures showing Omokri protesting against President Tinubu’s election, which only fueled the fire of their political rivalry. While some in El-Rufai’s camp defended him, others—especially critics of the current government—accused him of engaging in unnecessary political mudslinging.
Senator Shehu Sani, a former lawmaker from Kaduna, also joined the fray, accusing El-Rufai of hypocrisy. He reminded everyone of El-Rufai’s silence during Buhari’s presidency when accusations of nepotism ran rife, particularly in the appointments that seemed to favor Buhari’s region. Sani argued that while it’s fine to critique Tinubu, El-Rufai had no moral authority to do so.
As these political titans clash, it’s clear that Nigerian politics remains deeply divided, with the latest war of words revealing more about the fault lines than about the issues at hand.
Leave a Reply