Nasir el-Rufai, former governor of Kaduna state, says he and other politicians supported President Bola Tinubu for the 2023 elections despite knowing about issues around his academic records at the Chicago University in the US.
Speaking in an interview with BBC Hausa, el-Rufai said they supported Tinubu because of his performance as the governor of Lagos and the belief that he could replicate the same as a president.
“What pains me is that the government we supported, and have confidence will do well. We know what Tinubu did in Lagos, we are all aware about his Chicago, but we said if he can do the same as he did that will make Lagos great, we will support him,” he said.
On March 10, El-Rufai left the All Progressives Congress (APC) for the Social Democratic Party (SDP) over what he described as a divergence in values with the ruling party.
He recently appealed to former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar and Peter Obi, ex-presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP), to join the SDP.
El-Rufai also addressed speculations about his presidential ambition in the 2027 election, saying the decision lies not with him but with his party and the people.
“It is not for me to decide, it is the party and the people that will decide,” he said.
“Even when I was contesting for governor, it was people that met and convinced (Muhammadu) Buhari, and he called me and asked me to contest.”
Nasir el-Rufai,
President Bola Tinubu
