The war of words between Kaduna State governor, Nasir El-Rufai and the national leader of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, may have deepened as the governor on Monday insisted that he owes no one apologies over comments credited to him on godfatherism in Lagos State.
According to the governor, he personally does not recognise Tinubu as a political godfather, especially when he has succeeded in demystifying godfatherism in Kaduna State.
The governor, who had a private meeting with President Muhammadu Buhari at the Presidential Villa, also argued that in the last general election in Lagos where about six million voters registered with the electoral umpire, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), only one million people voted, hence it would be wrong for anyone to parade himself as godfather, when the remaining five million can be brought into the electoral system through hard work.
“I don’t know if he is the godfather of Lagos, it’s up to him to say that. What I know for sure is that we have retired godfathers in Kaduna and I have told those that asked me the question that ‘there are six million registered voters in Lagos but only one million voted’ in the last election. So there are five million people that you can bring into the electoral playground and you can defeat anyone if you work hard.
“It’s hard work, it’s four years. That is what I said and if anyone feels offended by that, that is his business or her business,” he stated.
Asked if he had any personal dispute with the national leader of the APC, Tinubu, the governor said, “There is no dispute between me and anyone in the APC, the APC is one, I don’t dispute with my own party. They may dispute with me but I don’t. I made comments about Lagos and how to retire godfathers, it’s a template that we have used in Kaduna and it has worked. If anybody thinks he is a godfather, the template may apply to him but I am not in dispute with anyone.
“I expressed my views firmly and very clearly, there is no human being that I am afraid to express my views on, and when I am ready to express my views specifically on a particular name then I will do so but I haven’t.
“I made a general statement but people have gone in to overdrive, creating fake news, abusing me and so on. I am thick-skinned, I can take the abuse and I will wait for my time when I want to”.
El-Rufai also seized the opportunity to comment on general insecurity in his state, saying Kaduna-Abuja express road is now safe to motorists, with the recent measures taken by security agencies to curtail banditry and kidnapping in the state.
“I came to see Mr. President to brief him on the general security situation in Kaduna which I do from time to time and also to update him on the various initiatives by the Inspector General of Police (IGP), the DSS, and the armed forces with a view to improving the security situation in Kaduna in general and particularly along the Abuja-Kaduna road.
“I want to say that the initiatives put in place have made the road quite safe now. I can say confidently that anyone can get in that road because I don’t want to go into details of the measures that have already been put in place but I am confident with the security system in place now that people can be confident to drive on the Abuja-Kaduna road without any fear,” he stated.
