The war of words between the Special Adviser to President Bola Tinubu on Policy Communication, Daniel Bwala, and a former governor of Kaduna State, Nasir El-Rufai, continued on Thursday with the former saying the latter’s comments on the Bola Tinubu’s government are not borne out of patriotism, but the need for vengeance.
Bwala said this in response to El-Rufai’s earlier comment on Thursday, where he said he would have criticised Tinubu if he were in the president’s cabinet.
El-Rufai’s Thursday’s comments were a direct response to Bwala, who had on Wednesday earlier criticised the former governor for his recent comment on the All Progressives Congress (APC), where he was reported to have slammed the APC, saying the ruling political party had abandoned its ideals.
Responding to a post the former governor of Kaduna State shared on his official X account on Wednesday, Bwala asked if El-Rufai would have said the same thing about the APC if he had remained in Tinubu’s government.
“My senior brother, if you were to be in the government and cabinet, would you have held and expressed the same position? History is replete with examples. It is a government you participated in its formation that you now want to unseat,” Bwala wrote.
But El-Rufai, responding to Bwala on Thursday morning, said he would have said and done the same if he were a member of Tinubu’s administration.
He went down memory lane and reminded Bwala, who was until his recent appointment by Tinubu an ally of former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, that he began his public service in 1998.
El-Rufai wrote, “Good morning, @BwalaDaniel. I was a cabinet minister 22 years ago and was clear to Asiwaju that I was not interested in any position in his future government,” the former governor wrote.
“If I had remained in the Tinubu government, I would have said or done the same on the tragedy within a party I was a founder of, and the government that emerged from it — first in private sessions with those concerned, and then go public if no remedial actions are taken. Go and check my public service record from 1998.”
Bwala, who is also a former spokesman for Atiku Abubakar 2023 presidential campaign organisation, also replied to El-Rufai, questioning the motive behind his actions and statements.
Bwala, in a second statement on X on Thursday, said: “Still my senior brother @elrufai, I am sure you don’t need anyone to tell you about my respect and admiration for you, not just for your brilliance, but also as one of the brightest we have from the northern extraction. I am not stating it for the first time today and you know that..
“My worry, however, is the motive behind your statements and actions; they are not borne out of patriotism, but the need for vengeance. The opposition sees that singular element of vengeance as a veritable tool for your recruitment.
“With respect, I am not a latter-day Asiwaju supporter. We both played our roles in his emergence as candidate of the party ahead of the 2023 elections.
“And before then, while you were from the CPC extraction of APC, I was from the ACN, which explains why I worked with Comrade Oshiomhole when he chaired the party, amongst other things, to protect the interest of Asiwaju, whom at the time you people vowed to retire from politics.”
Bwala said he still thinks El-Rufai doesn’t need all these melodramatic activities or a vengeance mission, asking him to come back and resolve whatever he thinks are his grievances like a dignified man that he is.
“Our party, APC, as of today, remains the only organized party with identifiable structures across the country. So if you are looking for any symbol of democracy, it is still in your party. Please senior, come home; you have toiled all nights.”
