Former Kaduna State governor, Nasir El-Rufai, has intensified his criticism of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s administration, predicting that the president will finish third in the 2027 presidential election.
Speaking on Channels Television’s Sunday Politics, El-Rufai, now a prominent leader within the African Democratic Congress (ADC) coalition, said his political calculations show Tinubu has “no pathway to win” outright on the first ballot.
“Tinubu will be third in the 2027 election. I have done my maths and I can tell you Tinubu has no pathway to win. The worst-case scenario is that there will not be any winner in the first ballot,” he declared.
El-Rufai urged Nigerians to assess the government’s performance based on their personal living conditions. “Ask yourself, is your life better now under President Tinubu?” he queried, adding that there is “no pretense of good intentions” in the administration’s policies.
Addressing speculation about his political ambitions, the former governor dismissed any interest in returning as a minister.
“I was a minister at the age of 23. I don’t need to be a minister,” he said, although he admitted that he had once been considered for the role of energy minister, for which he had already designed a reform roadmap.
El-Rufai, once a key member of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and a strong campaigner for Tinubu in the 2023 elections, has now aligned with opposition figures such as former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, Labour Party’s 2023 candidate Peter Obi, and former Rivers governor Chibuike Amaechi.
He stressed that party loyalty and governors’ influence do not determine electoral outcomes. “I was in APC yet I did not deliver my state. Bola Tinubu did not win his state,” he pointed out.
On insecurity, El-Rufai accused the government of being ineffective, noting that while officials boast about neutralising terrorists, “the elements are often found in the streets.”
He also cast doubt on commitments by his new allies, including Obi and Amaechi, who pledged to serve for only a single four-year term if elected president.
“I want them to stop making this kind of commitment. Nobody believes them. Things change once they get in. It is even unfair,” he remarked.
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