ABUJA, Nigeria — Senator Ali Ndume, representing Borno South, has weighed in on the ongoing fallout between President Bola Tinubu and former Kaduna State governor Nasir El-Rufai, suggesting that El-Rufai’s current frustrations may be the consequence of his past political decisions.
Speaking in an interview on Arise News on Tuesday, June 24, 2025, Ndume, who served as the Director-General of Rotimi Amaechi’s presidential campaign, revealed that El-Rufai was initially aligned with Amaechi before switching allegiance to Tinubu ahead of the All Progressives Congress (APC) presidential primaries.
“El-Rufai was supposed to be on our side but somehow, he moved over. And I think these are part of the things that are annoying or frustrating him,” Ndume said.
“He was on our side. Amaechi’s side. Before Tinubu was nominated, he made up his mind to support Tinubu.”
Ndume recalled that during Amaechi’s consultation tour, El-Rufai had publicly pledged support for the former Rivers State governor.
However, that position changed following Tinubu’s visit to Kaduna, which saw El-Rufai shift his backing to the eventual APC nominee.
“Tinubu, as he rightly said, said that he should not leave and that he should come on board, join the government,” Ndume said.
“He really mobilised. He did a lot of things.”
Following Tinubu’s electoral victory in 2023, El-Rufai was nominated for a ministerial appointment.
However, the Senate declined to confirm his nomination during the ministerial screening process, despite his longstanding political prominence.
Ndume, who was serving as Senate Chief Whip at the time, recalled the near-consensus among senators to approve El-Rufai’s nomination with minimal scrutiny.
“I was the Chief Whip. El-Rufai came to the chamber [for ministerial screening] and we almost like told him to take a bow and go,” he said.
Reflecting on the fallout, Ndume noted with a hint of irony: “Sometimes, I’ll say, ‘Okay o, you did that to us, it’s payback to yourself.’”
El-Rufai has since left the APC and aligned with the Social Democratic Party (SDP), although he is touted as one of the politicians leading a political coalition seeking to unseat President Bola Tinubu.
