Former commissioners, political appointees and grassroots associates of former Kaduna State Governor Nasir El-Rufai have broken their silence on their decision to part ways with him, insisting that they were political partners, not political property, and therefore retained the right to determine their own political future.
The former allies said they supported El-Rufai because they believed in a political project, not because they surrendered their political identities, structures, and followers to him.
The position was signed by former Deputy Speaker of the Kaduna State House of Assembly, Hon. Mukthar Isa Hazo, and former Kaduna State SDP Chairman and four-time House of Assembly member for Ungwan Sanusi Constituency, Hon. Nasiru Abdullahi Maikano.
They said members of the group, including former commissioners Ja’afaru Sani, Dr. Shehu Usman Makarfi, Bashir Saidu and Senator Abdu Kwari, had made significant contributions to the political structures that supported El-Rufai, alongside numerous grassroots politicians across Kaduna State.
The group said it was therefore unfair to describe their departure as betrayal, stressing that political relationships were not permanent and that alliances could change when circumstances, interests and objectives changed.
‘Are we not adults who can take our own political decisions?’ the group quoted Bashir Saidu as asking, saying the same freedom that allowed them to support El-Rufai in the past should allow them to make different choices today.
It said the political relationship became increasingly strained after El-Rufai’s 2019 re-election, when, according to its account, former allies felt increasingly marginalised while members of the former governor’s family were perceived to be exercising growing influence in government affairs.
The group stressed that it did not question El-Rufai’s right to rely on family members or trusted associates, but said its concern was what it described as the consequent weakening of the wider political structure and the growing sense among former allies that their political relevance was diminishing.
It said the disagreement later became more pronounced after El-Rufai left office, particularly over the 2027 political realignment and the ADC governorship primary, where Ja’afaru Sani was regarded by their camp as a preferred successor.
According to the group, El-Rufai instead backed Isa Ashiru, his former political rival, who defeated Sani in the ADC direct primary with 86,113 votes to 29,580. Sani rejected the outcome and alleged irregularities in the process.
The former allies also alleged that the support for Ashiru was linked to an arrangement designed to retain El-Rufai’s influence over a possible ADC administration, including alleged plans to appoint two of his wives. They expressly acknowledged that the allegation had not been independently established by a court or formally documented in a public agreement.
The group said the development reinforced its belief that the political interests of former allies were no longer aligned with those of El-Rufai, adding that the central question was whether Kaduna’s political future should be shaped by the interests of the people who built political structures or by the interests of a few individuals.
It challenged El-Rufai’s supporters to examine not only why people left his political camp but also what happened to the relationships that made them leave. According to the group, repeated political departures deserved examination rather than automatic accusations of betrayal.
It argued that El-Rufai’s own political journey demonstrated that political alliances could change, saying he had worked with different political actors and formations and had subsequently found himself on opposite sides of political battles with some of them.
‘If El-Rufai could make political choices based on his assessment of circumstances and interests, why should his former associates be denied that same right?’ the group asked.