BREAKING: Speaker Abbas Mentions How El-Rufai Hurts Him: “It Is Unfortunate”

Kaduna – Tajudeen Abbas, the speaker of the House of Representatives, has disclosed that the immediate past governor of Kaduna state, Nasir El-Rufai, was strongly against his election into the office of the number three citizen in Nigeria.

Abbas, who was elected as the speaker of the 10th national assembly in 2023, explained that the “previous administration in Kaduna”, which was manned by El-Rufai, was the first to be strongly against him being in the position he is today.

The Zaria-born politician is representing Zaria Constituency in the House of Representatives. He had recalled that it was the current Governor Uba Sani who strongly stood beside him in becoming the speaker of the House of Representatives.

Abbas then described the action of El-Rufai as unfortunate, saying he was surprised by the move. He explained that President Bola Tinubu had told him to thank God for the development, but he believes he also needs to express gratitude to Governor Sani.

See the video of his comment here:

Recall that recently, former Vice President Atiku Abubakar and El-Rufai have been spearheading efforts to unseat President Tinubu in the 2027 general election. Both politicians have confirmed discussions among opposition leaders, solidifying their determination to challenge Tinubu in the next polls. El-Rufai’s recent defection from the All Progressives Congress (APC) to the Social Democratic Party (SDP) stems from his assertion that Tinubu and APC have strayed from their promises to Nigerians.

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How El-Rufai started criticing Tinubu, Sani

Since dumping the APC, El-Rufai had been a major critic of the ruling APC, President Tinubu and Governor Sani. The ruling party on its side has claimed that the former governor was being pained because he was denied a ministerial appointment under the Tinubu administration.

Tinubu had earlier nominated El-Rufai as a minister, but his nomination was rejected by the Senate, citing a security report against him. However, the former governor had claimed that the Senate did not reject him but insisted that President Tinubu lost interest in him, and rather than withdrawing the nomination, his camp wanted to tarnish his image.

On his part, Governor Sani had challenged his predecessor to test his popularity in the 2027 general election rather than criticising him and his party. He had wondered how El-Rufai took a sharp turn against the APC and Tinubu in just two years.

Reps move to set age limit to contest election

Legit.ng earlier reported that President Bola Tinubu, his political rivals, Atiku Abubakar and Peter Obi, might not be able to contest the 2027 general election as the House of Representatives moves to amend the Nigerian Constitution.

This is as the House of Representatives passed to the second reading a bill stopping Nigerians who are above 60 years old from contesting for presidential and gubernatorial positions.

Tinubu, Atiku, and Obi are all political titans who are potential candidates in the 2027 general election.