Former Kaduna State governor, Nasir El-Rufai, has declared that he never had a personal or political relationship with President Bola Tinubu, insisting their paths were never meant to align.

El-Rufai, now a chieftain of the coalition-led African Democratic Congress (ADC), made the remarks during an interview on Trust TV, dismissing suggestions that he and Tinubu were once allies or friends.

“I think it’s important to make this clarification. There is an assumption that I was ever Tinubu’s friend. I was not. We never got along with Tinubu. We never had a personal relationship,” El-Rufai said.

He explained that his support for Tinubu’s 2023 presidential bid was rooted in political principle and party loyalty within the All Progressives Congress (APC), not personal affinity.

“For me, Tinubu was initially just an aspirant of the party. I was approached by certain Islamic stakeholders from the Southwest and asked to support the emergence of a Southwest Muslim presidential candidate,” he stated.

According to El-Rufai, his backing was based on an internal understanding within the APC that power would shift to the South after the eight-year administration of former President Muhammadu Buhari.

“As one of the founders of the APC, I knew that we had an understanding with the South, specifically the Southwest, that after eight years of Buhari, power would go to the South. It was a matter of principle. It wasn’t about Tinubu,” he said.

He added that once Tinubu secured the party’s ticket, he fully committed to delivering victory for the APC at the polls.

“It is a principle of mine that I fight for the candidate of my party in every election to win, whether I like the candidate or not. Tinubu emerged as the candidate, and I gave everything to ensure that he won. And that’s what I did,” El-Rufai said.

However, the former governor said deep differences in values and governance philosophy later widened the divide between them.

“We didn’t fall out. We just could not find areas of agreement. There was no equilibrium. We couldn’t agree,” he explained.

El-Rufai was particularly critical of what he described as the governing approach of the Tinubu administration.

“I am in government for delivery, for results and performance. Public service is not about making money for yourself. It’s not about stealing. It’s not about appointing your cronies or your tribesmen,” he said.

He further revealed that even if his proposed ministerial appointment under Tinubu had materialised, he would not have remained in office for long.

“Even if the offer that Tinubu made to me to be a minister had gone through, I would have left the government long ago. The philosophy of this government is contrary to everything I have been taught as a Muslim, as a northerner, and as a Nigerian,” El-Rufai declared.

The former governor concluded that the sharp contrast in their values made any lasting alignment impossible.

“These guys didn’t come to govern. They came to enrich themselves, pure and simple. We are different people. So it should not surprise anybody that knows me and knows Tinubu to see that we are parallel lines that will never meet,” he said.

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