NNPP Chieftain, Buba Galadima blasts El-Rufai, says he's unfit to lead an opposition, claims El-Rufai is merely a placeholder for Atiku in SDP

By Adamu Aliyu Aliyu/ABUJA//

Galadima who spoke to the PUNCH said, “Well, not El-Rufai himself, but some of his associates, including the chairman of the SDP, visited me. We had a lengthy discussion, and I shared my views with them. I am confident that my perspective will prevail because El-Rufai cannot lead an opposition. It’s simply the law of karma catching up with him. He is used to going into an established house and taking it over, but now that he’s trying to build from scratch, he will see how difficult politics can be. I don’t think he will succeed because he lacks a track record in public relations and doesn’t have the trust of the people, as he has wronged many.

“This will be the downfall of the SDP itself. Additionally, El-Rufai is merely a placeholder for someone else who is expected to take over the party. He does not own it. We know exactly who the true owners are, and they, too, carry baggage from their past actions towards other politicians and governors. They won’t succeed with this approach. You can’t try to take over a government out of anger.

“El-Rufai cannot lead because no one trusts him. He has a history of betrayals, and that will follow him. He has made many harmful statements and hurt countless people, and in fact, he has hurt God in several ways. I don’t believe God will allow him to succeed. It is only an insane person who does not understand politics or has no history who can follow El-Rufai. He is only after his own interest; once his interest is not there, he will ditch you. He has ditched a lot of people; he ditched Atiku, he ditched Obasanjo, he ditched Buhari, and he now ditched Tinubu. So, someone with this kind of record, I don’t think if you are sensible, you will follow him. Unless, of course, they are also like him, they committed one offence or the other before, and God wants to gather them in one place and destroy all of them. I don’t think there is a need for them to gather behind El-Rufai.

“It is even too early; perhaps they should allow President Tinubu to focus more. That is why we don’t want to comment. I said that until after they reach the second year in office, we don’t want them to claim we are not allowing them to work. So, we want them to work for the people, and let me tell you something, and forever keep it, even if I am dead, that no opposition runs a marathon race. The opposition doesn’t, it’s a sprint, a 100-meter dash. El-Rufai is starting early. By the time it is the third year, he must have been dismembered. It’s because he’s not a politician, or because God is pushing him because of the bad things he did against the people to suffer.

“This government that I know will dismiss all of them. You have to start when they have no power to control you. And the people might have seen their inner workings, their weaknesses, and their strengths. That’s why I say, because El-Rufai is not a politician, and he is following his mind because he didn’t get a ministerial appointment, that is why he has to fight President Tinubu. You don’t do that in politics. We believe that it’s not yet time. We are also looking at a coalition of like minds based on ideology, so that we just don’t take government for the sake of it.

“The PDP has been destroyed completely; it is irredeemable. We have three identifiable groups within the PDP who are fighting for the soul of the party: the Minister of Federal Capital Territory group, which is determined to destroy the party; the governors’ group; and the weakest group, which is Atiku’s group. That is why Atiku is afraid of being stranded. El-Rufai is now jumping to go and become a placeholder for Atiku so that if he’s booted out of the PDP, he will go to the SDP and become a candidate. So, as far as I am concerned, for this election of 2027, the PDP is out of the question, because Wike will never allow the party to stand on its feet, and he is influential; he dictates what happens in the judiciary. Or don’t you believe that? Go and read the new judgment against the Rivers State Governor, Sim Fubara, and the move to investigate Peter Odili after 18 years since he left office. If you look at it very well, you will know who is behind it.

“Also, I think Atiku should not contest in the 2027 election, this is my personal view. For me I could have thought that people have been supporting him since 1992, which is 33 years ago. It is also now time for him to support other people from whichever region he thinks is the best candidate for the job is from. I am not implying about North or South; other people supported him. He’s now getting old, and he would not be as sharp as expected. So, for me, Atiku should rest and anoint somebody who can even unify his political family structure, or he can promote his son for progress. Yes, if he is qualified. He is a Nigerian. Or is there anything that stops his son from becoming president? What they are doing with El-Rufai and the SDP will be an exercise in futility. El-Rufai is not a good salesman whose face you should put forward in the scheme of things.