With the family patriarch and immediate past Governor of Kaduna State, Malam Nasir El-Rufai, cooling his heels in anti-graft agency custody, his social media sensation son, Bashir, has now taken the feud against his elder brother, Rep Bello El-Rufai, to a dangerous new level.
Bashir has again threatened to damage the lawmaker.
Very prominent on social media in the heydays of his father’s governorship, firing controversial posts at opponents nationwide, giving responses to posers and engaging in related activities in defence of the administration, Bashir has now taken the tactical nous to a precipitous level towards a sibling.
Yesterday, he took to his X handle to attack his elder brother, who represents Kaduna North federal constituency in the House of Representatives, accusing him of abusing drugs even as he failed to substantiate the claim.
In a more recent post, Bashir publicly threatened to destroy his brother, saying, “I will destroy you & climb my bed and sleep peacefully.”
Sources said Bashir’s rift with his brother stemmed from political affiliations reportedly entered into by the lawmaker.
Rep. Bello is presently a member of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), a group involving former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar, who, in league with Malam El-Rufai and others, seek to oust President Bola Tinubu from office in the 2027 election.
Rep. Bello was initially elected to the House of Representatives under the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) and May 2026, officially defected to the ADC.
But, according to other sources, the real bone of contention between the siblings is said to be the Abuja-based federal lawmaker’s warm relationship with current Governor of Kaduna State, Uba Sani.
Governor Sani, who was ex-Gov. El-Rufai’s right hand man and political ally back in the day, has, for years now, been in a no love lost relationship with his former godfather, with his administration accusing El-Rufai of dumping a hefty state debt on him (Sani), gross corruption and others.
Besides, Gov. Sani has reasonably reached out to, and pallied up with, the beleaguered people of Southern Kaduna, a predominantly Christian populace who, arguably, form about 50% of the state’s demographics, and who were at the raw receiving end of some policies of the El-Rufai administration.
Many supporters of Nasir El-Rufai view Gov. Sani’s actions as a betrayal and reversal of his former boss’s policies.
Bashir is known to have publicly accused Bello of putting personal political interests ahead of family loyalty by maintaining ties with Gov. Sani.
Standing up for his father apparently, Bashir has often aggressively defended the former Governor online and carpeted Gov. Sani, ripping also into his elder brother for allegedly remaining neutral, hypocritical, or unsupportive of the family in the ‘fight’.
The lawmaker reportedly asked his younger sibling to tone down his criticisms.
However, the disagreement boiled over onto X where Bashir opened personal attacks and leveled unsubstantiated allegations against Rep. Bello concerning substance abuse and political opportunism.
But, Rep. Bello has largely distanced himself from the public social media outbursts, stating that he remains focused on his legislative duties and prefers to handle family matters privately.
*PHOTO CAPTION: Top, L-R: Bashir, and Bello. Down: Their father, ex-Gov. El-Rufai. File photo.
