2027: El- Rufai Hints Of Presidential Ambition

Former Governor Nasir El-Rufai of Kaduna state has hinted of his plan to return to politics in 2027.

The immediate past governor of the state made the revelation on Tuesday while speaking  on the Hausa programme on Freedom Radio Kaduna .

“I intend to return to politics in 2027 after completing my studies. There is no retirement in politics. By the will of Allah, we will return and continue serving the people,” he said.

The revelation comes following suggestions that the former governor was planning to contest the highest office in the country, the president.

The former governor left office on May 29, 2023 after spending eight maximum years as the chief executive of the state.

Since his departure from office more than a year ago, El-Rufai, analysts insist has been in the political wilderness, particularly after his ambition to be a minister was thwarted by perceived political opponents.

The former governor, has also been at loggerheads with his successor, Uba Sani, the man he assisted to be governor, but has now dumped him over irreconcilable difference.

To make matter worse for El-Rufai, he’s been probed by the Governor Sani administration for an alleged financial impropriety while he was in office.

According to those familiar with the issue, the former governor had earlier been penciled down as the Chief of Staff, CoS, to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu among other juicy positions in his cabinet.

“But everything just went wrong for him at the last minute,” a source said adding that the former governor is coming back “with a revenge in 2027.”

Those who spoke on the ambition of the former helmsman to contest for president, disclosed that he has  recently been making  necessary consultations to ensure that this is actualised

Recall that the former governor had recently met with former President Muhammadu Buhari, former Vice Atiku Abubakar, Rabiu Kwakwanso even though nothing was made public on why he met the political leaders.

The magazine also reported that El-Rurai is seriously angry with the administration of President Tinubu for dumping him after he supported the former for the president last year.

The former governor was among those that staunchly supported President Tinubu during the 2023 Presidential election, and for his support, Tinubu was said to have promised to make him a member of his cabinet, by giving him a lucrative ministerial appointment.

But this was not to be, as the former governor was dumped at the eleventh hour after he failed to scale the Nigerian Senate screening, sources told the magazine.

The former governor, those close to him said, believed that he was betrayed by the president who refused to stand up for him when it really mattered.

“The president could have prevailed on the Senate to clear the former governor if he wanted to. The fact that he did not pull his weight behind him is an indication that he actually didn’t want him to be a minister. The president action, is the height of betrayal to someone who risked everything for him when other northern politicians were not ready to stick out their necks for him,” a source close to the former governor said on Wednesday.