“Nasir’s penchant for reputation damaging is almost pathological. Why does
he do it? He is brilliant and smart. …..I appreciated his brilliance and
acknowledged his weaknesses; the worst being his inability to be loyal to
any person or issue for long….” Olusegun Obasanjo in MY WATCH
On 15th November 2016, Mr. El-rufa’i penned an op ed titled “ATIKU HUNTED
BY HIS CORRUPTION DEMONS “.His piece was triggered by an interview His
Excellency the former Vice President granted an Economic And Financial
Crime Commission(EFCC) tabloid called ZERO TOLERANCE. Atiku’s articulate
and informative interview and El-rufa’i’s rambling article, attracted
wide coverage from the old and new media. And there are early indications
that, many public affairs commentators and politicians are already running
commentaries on this push and pull between a political heavyweight and a
welterweighter.
What really aroused the beast of anger and sudden reaction from Governor
El-rufa’i? Deploying inductive and deductive reasoning, and reading some
thin lines in between his razzmatazz, there is much to believe that Vice
President Atiku’s assertion that El-rufa’i offered him shares of TRANSCORP
and he refusal of the offer based on moral and legal grounds engineered
his incoherent and insincere write up . If El-rufa’i feels Atiku’s claims
we’re not a true reflection of what transpired when he was the Czar Bureau
For Public Enterprise(BPE) one expected an easy-going and decent rebuttal
of that singular issue. But El-rufa’i is not that type of character! He is
one of a kind.
Because of his extravagant quantum of mischief he diverted attention to
mundane matters that have either been settled through answers provided in
the interview or not truthful. Hear the blackmailer-in-Chief; “…..Alhaji
Atiku should tell a better tale of why he is avoiding the United States of
America”. Had hate for the person of Turakin Adamawa not taken to the
extreme he would have seen where Turaki said he visited the U.S. twice
after leaving office. And paraded a vivid account of what El-Rufa’i thinks
was behind his so-called avoiding of the U.S. It is an incontestable fact
that, Turaki has never been indicted by any U.S. institution let alone
declare him persona non grata or placed on a wanted list.
Still on the U.S. visitation, El-rufa’i merely held a self looking glass
because he is the one that have been avoiding the U.S. In recent times, he
has declined invitations to be amongst President’s entourage when PMB paid
a state visit to the U.S.. He sent his Deputy Governor Arc. Barnabas Yusuf
Bala to represent him. Just last month (October 2016), all the northern
Governors were invited by a U.S. based NGO and a public institution. Like
the first invite, he dodged and sent his Special Adviser on Media and
Publicity Mr. Muyiwa Adeleke to represent him. If one connect the dots and
infer to many reports that are saying his Acting Chief of Staff Mr. Jimi
Lawal and his economic hitman is a wanted man in the U.S. it is clear that
there are elements of truth that the U.S. government have placed him on
the list of people they want to nip if they dare travel to their shores.
Mr. El-rufa’i tried painting Turaki’s clear refutal as tissue of lies
bandied in his now infamous book titled ACCIDENTAL PUBLIC SERVANT as
admittance of his fictional parade of events. In the contemporary history
of Nigeria, no book has ever been challenged like ACCIDENTAL PUBLIC
SERVANT. It is on record that, every major persona mentioned wrote a
rebuttal- including Malam Nuhu Ribadu- his co-conspirator. In fact
Professor Charles Soludo wrote op ed in Thisday Newspapers for weeks. May
be El-rufa’i expected Turaki to descend low and join issues with him, he
got it twisted because they are not in the same league. So, Turaki cant
give a political neophyte cum attention seeker a chance.
The pathological lier also piqued “Alhaji Atiku is already running for
2019, and he thinks that he can make people like us collateral damage in
his attempt to rejuvenate his image.” When it mattered most, Tukari was
there and his contribution to 28th march 2016 electoral victory of Mr.
President are unchallengeable. His cash and kind contributions played a
remarkable role in facilitating effective logistics throughout the entire
process that peaked with taking over of mantle of leadership on 29th May
2015.
Turaki has not officially declared for 2019 as he wanted his readers to
believe. However, Mr. El-rufa’i and his team of ungrateful elements and
professional blackmailers must know and accept the fact that, Turaki and
all other Nigerians have the right to aspire to the highest political
office in the land. Similarly PMB has the right to seek for renewal of his
mandate in 2019. Consequently, making Turaki’s aspiration appear like
sabotage is petty and unattractive. By the way, we have read stories of
other aspirants, why singling Turaki out of the horde? That is a clear
signal that Turaki’s body language is giving them sleepless nights.
Lest we forget, the same person who claims to love Mr. President has
spewed some of the most denigrative venom on PMB in 2010. Since joining of
active politics in 2001 nobody has uttered hurting and demeaning words on
PMB like El-rufa’i. He called him a gerontocrat, intolerant fellow and a
man astronomically detached from the realities of contemporary world.
Because of political expedience and disappointed expectations, the same
character turned his arsenal against President Goodluck Jonathan and
changed tune. It is clear that he is a fair weather persona that can dump
everyone for political and economic aggrandizement. The quote in our
opening segment has vindicated the widely accepted notion that he is a
combustable cum vacillating element.
In the process of throwing the kitchen sink on Turaki the talking but no
action Governor of Kaduna State punched men and women of the Green and Red
Chambers. Hear him, “This obsession for power inclined him to support the
rebellion against the party that manifested in the National Assembly”. Is
he saying there is a rebellion in the National Assembly that only him and
his cohorts are aware of? By inference, he is also piquing that honourable
members and distinguished senators are rebels pulling the rugs under Mr.
President’s feet. We all know that Mr. El-rufa’i and his co-conspirators
are yet to overcome the shock of their failure to infringed on the right
of members of the National Assembly to decide who to lead them. He is also
not happy of their quest to maintain their independence and critical
stance on Mr. President’s foreign loans request and rejection of his
ambassadorial nominees. These are normal routines expected of a branch of
government that is made of peoples’ representatives. Since Mr. El-rufa’i
don’t believe in the principle of separation of power and other democratic
ethos, he chooses to see it as an act of rebellion. If that fits into his
own parochailistic definition of rebellion, too bad.
Mr. El-Rufa’i has a mandate he got on 11th April 2016. He better invest
his time and energy towards delivering his electoral promises. His four
years mandate is over eighteen months now. So far, he has not successfully
flaged off or commissioned a single peoples oriented project. He has been
hyping his government through brazen propaganda and maintaining press
visibility. But we all know that the moment of truth shall come and he
will be placed on a performance scale to know whether he was a faithful
servant or a betrayer of trust. And that will be a time for him to
understand that, he can run but he can’t hide.
As stated hereinbefore, Turaki is not in the same league with an unstable
and divisive character like Mr. El-rufa’i .And Turaki will not slip down
the gutter and play his most cherished image denting game. Turaki has a
vision and mission to accomplish in politics. He will never waste his
precious and scarce time engaging a political waste products seeking for
attention. Turaki knows that one will be delaying your journey if you
decide to throw stones on every dog barking on his path.
Dr. John Danfulani
Johndanfulani@gmail.com
@john_danfulani