By Milcah Tanimu
Sam Omatseye, an ally of President Bola Tinubu, has sharply criticized former Kaduna state governor Nasir El-Rufai and his son, Bello. Omatseye, the editorial board chairman of *The Nation* newspaper and a columnist, has been vocal about El-Rufai’s ongoing investigation by the Kaduna state House of Assembly.
Bello, a member of the House of Representatives, responded to Omatseye’s articles by stating, “Thanks. I left the office early to see him off at the airport. I just told him a lot of you do love him and have been supportive. I shared some tweets with him. We also laughed at a shameless idiot, Sam the houseboy at 70, of the Toilet Paper called *The Nation*.”
Omatseye responded to Bello’s remarks in his column, criticizing the quality of lawmakers in today’s democracy. He remarked, “A father is accused of stealing over N400 billion, and the son goes to the toilet to defend him. Is that the sort of family that should spill into the public square? So, if the father is an accused thief, the son is a liar. What a combo of family. Who is shameless if not a thief or a liar?”
Omatseye continued, “*The Nation* is toilet paper, but it was not so when it defended him in the past when he made headlines against his enemies. It is because he has a toilet imagination that Bello’s father can be accused of stealing, and he does not hide himself in the shadows.”
He also criticized Bello’s lack of facts and mocked his father’s political actions, stating, “He calls me 70, where is his fact? His father returned to Atiku, the man he betrayed for OBJ. He has returned to his own vomit. So, it is a case of a traitor cohabiting with a defector. What a marriage. And they say they love this country? Bello himself has been pampered by his father.”
Omatseye highlighted Bello’s lack of real-world experience before becoming a lawmaker, noting, “He never had any real job in this country before he became a lawmaker, except a stint at a Chinese firm his father helped him get. He schooled outside this country.”
He also recounted a past encounter with Nasir El-Rufai, stating, “I recall challenging his father at Sheraton sometime ago in front of my editor colleagues when he wanted to advertise his integrity. He said his salary was small. I asked him how he funded his children, including Bello, from a government salary that could not pay more than a month’s rent abroad. He could not answer me then. Now I know why, and why his son must defend his father.”
