By our reporter
Apparently brimming with confidence, former governor of Kaduna State, Malam Nasir El-Rufai, has beat his chest to say there is no way back to Aso Villa for President Bola Tinubu in 2027.
El-Rufai, who alongside some opposition heavyweights, is in the political trenches plotting to stop Tinubu’s second term aspiration, asserted that the dire socio-economic situation in the country has pitted Tinubu and the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) against majority Nigerians, who, he noted, are the victims of the government’s economic policies.
El-Rufai took the position in an interview shared on X.
He noted that anybody who believes Tinubu will win in 2027 probably does not live in present-day Nigeria.
El-Rufai’s words: “Anybody that thinks it is possible for President Bola Tinubu to get re-elected is living in another country, not Nigeria. It is impossible for Bola Tinubu to get re-elected.”
To the Social Democratic Party (SDP) chieftain, Nigerians have lost faith in Tinubu and the APC, pointing out that they would not be interested in returning both to power in the 2027 general elections.
Despite regular reassurances by the government that all will soon be well, El-Rufai said Nigerians are not convinced and have not bought into the rhetoric as their living conditions are telling them a different story.
Even with many state governors and political titans across party lines endorsing Tinubu for a second term and many defecting to the APC, the former governor dismissed it all as exercises centered on self, saying such will not count in 2027.
Indeed, he took a hard look at the defections and dissected them into several categories.
El-Rufai said: “It is greedy and hungry politicians and those that are looking for money, contract, appointment, office that are defecting.
”The other class of those defecting are those that know that the EFCC or ICPC can intimidate them, because they know what they have done if they have done what is not quite right.
“And this is what I think the SDP and the coalition of political parties or grouping that we are working with, is targeting. We believe that the 2027 elections will be between the APC and Nigerians.”
To El-Rufai, there is no route back to Aso Villa for Tinubu.
According to him, given the present situation and mood in the land, even the weakest opposition will defeat Tinubu in 2027 because Nigerians are unhappy with APC and the administration’s policies.
He said: “I don’t see a pathway for him.”
The former governor restated that the unfolding rainbow coalition is targeting voters unhappy with the Tinubu administration’s policies and running of the country.
Others in the coalition are former Vice President and Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) presidential candidate in the 2023 poll, Atiku Abubakar; former Transport Minister in the immediate-past Muhammadu Buhari federal administration,Rotimi Amaechi; El-Rufai himself, who was Tinubu’s strong ally before they became estranged; and several zonal politicians.
Labour Party (LP) flagbearer in the 2023 presidential election, Peter Obi, participated in the coalition’s early stages, but reports said ideological differences with some of the coalition drivers may compel him to run alone.
Obi was quoted as saying that if the coalition was not primed to alleviate the many sufferings of ordinary Nigerians, including the youth, but was being constructed purely for regime change or power grab just for its sake, then he would quit.
