Senator Ali Ndume, who represents Borno South Senatorial District, has attributed the ongoing rift between President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and former Kaduna State Governor, Nasir El-Rufai, to political betrayal — describing it as a form of “payback” for El-Rufai’s past actions against former Rivers State Governor, Rotimi Amaechi.
Speaking in an interview on Arise News on Tuesday, Ndume, who served as the Director-General of the Rotimi Amaechi Presidential Campaign during the 2023 elections, recalled how El-Rufai initially aligned himself with Amaechi’s presidential ambition before shifting loyalty to Tinubu during 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 narrated that during Amaechi’s consultation visit to Kaduna, El-Rufai publicly declared support for the former Rivers Governor. However, following Tinubu’s visit to the state, El-Rufai changed course and became one of Tinubu’s most vocal backers.
“Before Tinubu was nominated, El-Rufai made up his mind to support him. Tinubu, as he rightly said, asked him to stay and join the government. Since then, I’ve not been close to El-Rufai because he abandoned our group. He really mobilised for Tinubu, he did a lot,” Ndume stated.
Reflecting on the post-election developments, Ndume, who was then Senate Chief Whip, revealed that El-Rufai’s ministerial screening was almost unopposed in the chamber.
“El-Rufai came to the chamber for ministerial screening and we almost told him to just take a bow and go,” he said.
Despite El-Rufai’s vigorous campaign for Tinubu, his name was dropped from the list of approved ministers by the Senate. The fallout saw El-Rufai withdrawing from the APC and aligning with the Social Democratic Party (SDP), where he is now a key figure in the emerging anti-Tinubu coalition.
Commenting on the current state of their relationship, Ndume remarked, “Sometimes I’ll say, ‘Okay, you did that to us, now it’s payback to yourself.’ But honestly, I still don’t fully understand what happened between him and Tinubu.”
The public fallout between Tinubu and El-Rufai has fueled growing speculations about deeper divisions within the APC, especially as political permutations ahead of 2027 begin to unfold.