Tinubu Was Not My Friend, I Was Never Close to Him, ... I Don't Know If I will Support Him in 2027 - El-Rufai

Israel Adeleke 

OPEN TELEVISION NAIJA (OTN) News reports that the immediate past governor of Kaduna State, Mallam Nasir El-Rufai speaking earlier this week said that he was unsure if he would support the re-election bid of President Bola Tinubu in 2027, adding that Tinubu was not his friends, and he was never close to him.

OTN News further reports that El-Rufai who also added that he was not sure if he would still be a member of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) by 2027, made this known while appearing on Prime Time on ARISE TV.

According to him, “I don’t know (if I will support Tinubu in 2027). I will evaluate the situation at the time, and I will consult widely.

“When I supported President Tinubu before the primaries, it was a decision that the leaders of APC took in Kaduna. Who do we support? We succeeded in ensuring that power goes to the south, and we know that all the northern candidates will go nowhere, Yahaya Bello, Ahmed Lawan.

“But among the southerners, who do we support, they know those that are my friends. Tinubu was not my friend. I was never close to him.

“But the consensus of the APC in Kaduna was that we should support Bola Tinubu because he is the one that is more likely to win. Politicians make these calculations.

“In 2027, I’m going to consult the same people. We are going to take the same decision, which candidate to support and in which party.”

OTN News observes that when he was asked if he would support a Southern candidate in 2027, El-Rufai said he can’t answer the question because he was no longer a governor.

“Now I’m a private citizen. I’m not sure I would be in the APC 2027, so I cannot answer that question… Now in 2027, I will not be a governor, so I will not have the sort of clout that I had in 2023,” he stated.