Still On The Travails Of El-Rufai, Selective Justice And Future Of Democracy In Nigeria -By Hajia Hadiza Mohammed

I made it clear in my earlier essays that the travails of Mallam Nasir El-Rufai and other political figures undergoing trials in the hands of the state’s agents are being hounded because they refused to support or work with Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu. This is clear to all and sundry. And they have genuine reasons to dissociate themselves from the government that is hell bent on destroying the country’s democracy and rule like a despot. The government of Tinubu is the most exclusionist, revanchist, mediocre and inept administration in the history of Nigeria. Some say that you cannot work or defend the outmoded policies of Tinubu without looking stupid. If El-Rufai, the tough-talking former governor of Kaduna State were to be in the camp of Tinubu, today he would have been one of his ministers or one of those rewarded with ambassadorial appointment.

Mallam El-Rufai’s supporters have protested vehemently against his continued incarceration, accusing Tinubu of bias, vengeful and vindictive. El-Rufai was Tinubu’s anchor man in the North in the build up to the highly flawed 2023 election against the wish of the North that has earlier settled for Senator Ahmed Lawan. At Royal Institute of International Affairs (Chatham House), El-Rufai was one of the spokesperson for Tinubu, one of those that defended his phantom programs. He was one of the Tinubu’s rigging agents that influenced the false votes from the North. He has recently confessed to that crime when he published what he said was the authentic result that was altered by the INEC in favor of Tinubu.

Of course, El-Rufai was right to dissociate himself from Tinubu and his government because of his failures, flaws and anti-people policies. Indeed, no conscientious person would want to work with dysfunctional government like the Tinubu’s whose only program is to hold on to power at all costs.

However, I must admit that the former FCT minister was careless and myopic in throwing his support behind the “Lagos Boy” during the 2023 election. As he stated El-Rufai was said to be impressed by Tinubu’s so-called performance while he was the Lagos State governor. But he never knew that the said performance was a fluke that existed only on the pages of the Lagos Press just as his current reform is bearing fruits on the lips of his propagandists and media hirelings. Governor Raji Fashola was also one of the governors dressed in borrowed robes of super performer by the Lagos Press only to be a super flop when appointed a minister by Mohammadu Buhari.

Perhaps, the El-Rufai’s initial support for Tinubu was because of the Tinubu’s Muslim-Muslim ticket or for other primordial considerations. But that clearly proved catastrophic. El-Rufai and many others that worked to foist Tinubu on Nigerians did not know his true character and vaulting ambition. While he ruled in Lagos, Tinubu tolerated no opposition. He did not accommodate intelligent people and those that are independent-minded. Three or four times he changed his deputy governors and silenced or sidelined those that are opposed to his extortionist policies. He captured Lagos and ruled Lagos by proxy like a private estate. El-Rufai and those that sold Tinubu to Nigerians should have known that Tinubu would replicate what he did in Lagos in Nigeria if he becomes president. And we are witnessing it now. Since his coming to power, Tinubu has transmogrify into a dictator that brooks no opposition. He has used every means necessary including force to stop, civil advocacy, protests, free speeches and freedom of association. He has put machinery in place to turn the country into a one-party state. He has destabilized the opposition political parties, captured the National Assembly, compromised the judiciary, and destroyed the state institutions with the grand plan to run the 2027 election as the sole presidential candidate.

Those that dared to stand on his way are being intimidated and harassed with the state agents. This is the cause of the travails of El-Rufai and others who left the All Progressives Congress (APC) while some political pettifoggers are defecting into it. Yes, El-Rufai and others like him are being persecuted because they stood against dictatorship. They stood for Democracy and truth. Nigerians must speak out against authoritarianism, political persecution and selective justice. Today, it is El-Rufai, Abubakar Malami and Chris Nwabueze Ngige; we don’t know who is next. It might be you or somebody related to you. We must stamp out impunity and official high-handedness if our democracy will survive. Long live Nigeria.

Hajia Hadiza Mohammed 

hajiahadizamohammed@gmail.com

An actress, social activist, politician

London, UK