El-Rufai’s popularity declining, his coalition loosing steam, momentum – Presidency

El-Rufai’s popularity declining, his coalition loosing steam, momentum – Presidency

Daniel Bwala, Special Adviser on Public Communications and Media to President Bola Tinubu, has dismissed the political coalition led by former Kaduna State Governor Nasir el-Rufai as ineffective and already losing momentum.

Speaking during an appearance on AIT’s Focus Nigeria on Wednesday, Bwala argued that el-Rufai’s movement lacks genuine political traction and does not resonate with the grassroots.

“The so-called coalition has already fizzled out. It has no real structure, no significant following, and no connection to the realities of grassroots politics,” Bwala stated.

“I know that the southern people generally have a sentiment that the north has done eight years. The south should be allowed to do eight years.

“These southern people who have this sentiment, they are even in the political parties where northerners have contested. They will not vote for the northern candidate. They will vote for a southern candidate. And it is fair, just, and equitable.”

Bwala said discussions about northern politics often focus on a handful of elite figures who, in his view, do not truly reflect the interests or realities of the broader region.

“When we talk of the north, there are times there is a misconception. People identify five eggheads and call them the north. Some of them are disconnected from the source,” he said.

“I give you an example of a governor; a former governor that left us, and he’s moving a coalition, generating buzz, according to them.”

When the programme anchor pressed him on whether he was referring to el-Rufai, Bwala responded plainly, “Okay, yes.”

He added that el-Rufai’s political influence had already waned considerably before he exited office.

“Now, take, for example, there are some people from the south or elsewhere: when they see him talking, they will think as if he will move like a clap of thunder out of a blue sky,” he said.

“But in politics, those who look at politics – it’s called political science because it’s a science behind politics. You look at stats, you look at numbers, you look at trajectory, right?”

Bwala stated that the former governor’s administration saw a significant decline in public support during his second term in office.

“In the second half of his term, when he was doing his second term, he was so unpopular that the APC lost three senate seats and a number of house of representatives, and the president lost the election there,” he said.

“So, people won’t look at those. But political scientists, they look at those things as indices. And they know that this one is like Andrew Liver Salts.

“Even when he started, it was like that. Like he dropped Andrew Liver Salt, and then it calmed down. That’s what is happening. Nobody talks about him. Nobody looks for him.”

He added that even those discussing a new political front are urging el-Rufai to return to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

“Even among the people who are talking about coalition now, he said he wants to move somewhere. They say, come back to PDP,” Bwala said.

The president’s aide also pushed back against claims that Tinubu lacks popularity.

“Now, the complaint they give, they will say the president is not popular. We went to Katsina with the president two weeks ago, roughly two weeks ago. From the airport to the city, people lined up,” he said.

On April 16, el-Rufai said the Tinubu administration is the “worst and most corrupt” in Nigeria’s history.

He also described the government as the most intolerant since Nigeria returned to civil rule in 1999.

“This is the worst federal government in Nigerian history, and all the indices have shown it,” he said while addressing journalists in Katsina.