Former Kaduna State Governor, Nasir El-Rufai, has responded to comments made by the President’s Special Adviser on Policy Communications, Daniel Bwala, regarding his criticism of the current administration.

El-Rufai, known for his outspoken nature regardless of the government in power, stated that his recent remarks about the administration would not have changed even if he were a cabinet minister.

Recall that the former minister, during a national conference in Abuja on Monday, described the state of governance and opposition in the country as a “national emergency.” The conference focused on strengthening democracy in Nigeria.

The former governor also expressed concerns over the lack of internal democracy and active party structures within the All Progressives Congress (APC). He lamented, “I no longer recognize the APC. No party organ has met in two years—no caucus, no NEC, nothing. You don’t even know if it is a one-man show; it’s a zero-man show.”

In response, the ruling APC criticized El-Rufai, accusing him of treachery and questioning his recent attacks on the Federal Government and the party.

This led to Bwala’s reaction on his X handle, where he challenged El-Rufai, asking, “My senior brother, if you were in the government and cabinet, would you have held and expressed the same position?”

“History is replete with examples. It is a government you participated in its formation, that you now want to unseat. Haba Mallam, a Ji soron Allah mana.”

On Thursday, the former governor, via his X handle, asserted his stance, as he called out “latter-day converts” to the Tinubu administration for insisting he wanted to serve as a minister in the current government.

“Good morning, #BwalaDaniel, I was cabinet minister 22 years ago and was clear to Asiwaju that I was not interested in any position in his future government. The pathetic manner all of you latter-day converts to the Tinubu government make an issue of something that I never wanted in the first place is perhaps a reflection of the level of your moral flexibility.

“If I had remained in the Tinubu government, I will say or do the same on the tragedy within a party I was a founder, and the government that emerged from it – first in private sessions with those concerned, and then go public if no remedial actions are taken. Go and check my public service record from 1998.

“I am only responding to you because I still think you are a decent person who may need a job, and not in the class of Wendell Simlin and that Kaduna pretender that our voters retired in 2019 – these clowns are political mercenaries that receive humongous monthly stipends from the security vote to be the first to jump on X and other platforms to defend everything the Asiwaju government does or fails to do, no matter how indefensible it may be.

“Enjoy your special adviser position, my brother, but remember that allegiance to God and country comes first in the human scale of accountability, before any person or authority.”