Kaduna state governor, Nasir El-Rufai, Friday accused the running mate of Atiku Abubakar, the People’s Democratic Party presidential candidate, Peter Obi, of being tribalistic.
El-Rufai, a member of the ruling All Progressives Congress, was reacting to a part of an OP-ed on the Leadership Newspaper quoted by the Coalition of Buhari-Osibanjo Movement. The article titled “Peter Obi, Ghost Of The Past And Reality Of Today”, detailed the different inconsistencies in the former Anambra governor’s profile and claims by Obi that have been allegedly proven false.
The Kaduna State governor chimed in with a tweet that quoted Obi’s statement in 2014 when El-Rufai was detained in a hotel by the State Security Service (SSS) in Anambra state.
El-Rufai, who was then the Deputy National Secretary of the All Progressives Congress, APC, was detained on 15 and 16 November 2013, at the Finotel, Awka.
“Peter Obi is a tribal bigot,” El-Rufai tweeted.
“He was widely quoted on national television that the SSS was right to detain me for 48 hours in a hotel in 2014 on the grounds that “El-Rufai has no business being in Anambra State as it is not Katsina State”! I sued the SSS and awarded N4m damages.”
The OP-ed published on Friday reported the story of Obi’s prejudice when he forcefully emigrated northerners from his state when he was the Anambra state governor.
“In a swift moment of needless impulse, Peter Obi bundled some northerners, mostly those who engaged in menial jobs for survival & marched them in trailer load back to their base. To him, these guys had no business being in Anambra State.”
El-Rufai has stated his support for President Muhammadu Buhari’s return for a second term, a reality that Atiku and Obi are major opposition to.
On October 12, Abubakar picked Obi as his running mate.
The campaign organisation of Atiku Abubakar director-general Gbenga Daniel said, “Mr. Obi’s choice was largely influenced by his youthfulness, vast knowledge of global and local economics as well as being a financial expert, all experience which Nigeria is in great need at this point in time.”
