Niger APC Leader Criticizes El-Rufai’s ‘Life President’ Comment on Tinubu

Jonathan Vatsa, a prominent All Progressives Congress (APC) chieftain from Niger State, has strongly condemned former Kaduna State governor Nasir El-Rufai for his recent remarks suggesting that President Ahmed Bola Tinubu would become a “life president” if re-elected in 2027.

Speaking in an interview in Minna, Vatsa dismissed El-Rufai’s comments as those of a “wounded lion” who has lost his political relevance. He attributed El-Rufai’s criticisms to his frustration over being excluded from President Tinubu’s cabinet, which Vatsa said has left him “mentally disorganised.”

Vatsa also criticized El-Rufai’s tenure as governor of Kaduna State, accusing him of deepening ethnic and religious divisions. “The whole world saw how El-Rufai unleashed bandits and terrorists against the people of southern Kaduna during his eight years in office. Blood flowed freely under his watch,” he stated.

He warned that any political party associated with El-Rufai risks electoral defeat in Kaduna and beyond, saying, “He misruled the state, and the people have not forgiven him.”

Highlighting the APC’s loss in Kaduna during the last presidential election as a sign of El-Rufai’s waning influence, Vatsa said, “El-Rufai has become politically irrelevant, even in Kaduna State.”

Advising El-Rufai to retire from politics quietly, Vatsa said, “His continued involvement will yield nothing.”

Addressing concerns over President Tinubu’s potential re-election, Vatsa pointed to the political agreement that the South should complete its eight-year term before power returns to the North in 2031.

He emphasized that national unity should take precedence over regional interests, urging all Nigerians to prioritize the country’s cohesion above personal or sectional ambitions.