By Emameh Gabriel
The tale of Nasir El-Rufai and the ascension of his successor, Uba Sani as Governor of Kaduna State is a riveting study of political myth-making and the quiet triumph of individual merit over the noise of godfatherism.
El-Rufai, a man whose political persona is as polarising as it is potent, has long been painted as the architect of modern Kaduna. His tenure as governor was marked by a whirlwind of reforms, controversies, and an unyielding grip on the levers of power. To many, he was the puppeteer, the mastermind whose strings pulled the political fortunes of the state. Yet, in the aftermath of Uba Sani’s victory, the narrative of El-Rufai as the indispensable kingmaker begins to unravel like a poorly spun yarn.
The truth, stark and unvarnished, is that Uba Sani’s rise to the governorship was not a gift bestowed by El-Rufai’s benevolence or strategic genius. It was, instead, first, the goodwill of the people of Kaduna to Sani’s own political acumen, grassroots appeal, and the collective will of a people weary of being reduced to mere pawns in a high-stakes game of political chess. To suggest otherwise is to insult the intelligence of the electorate and to diminish the agency of a man who has carved his own path through the thorny thickets of Nigerian politics.
I have perused numerous commentaries from Nigerians, particularly those aligned with El-Rufai’s sympathisers, recounting narratives of how El-Rufai purportedly facilitated Uba Sani’s ascension to the governorship of Kaduna State. These accounts further accuse Uba Sani of betraying trust, among other allegations.
Naturally, this is the narrative El-Rufai seeks to propagate, aiming to manipulate public perception of Sani. It is a calculated maneuver to divert attention from the real issues of accountability, leveraging the susceptibility of Nigerians to emotional manipulation. This is by all means, an attempt to drag Uba Sani’s reputation in the court of public opinion, deflecting scrutiny from El-Rufai’s own actions.
Sam Omatsaye recently authored an insightful piece titled, “How Tinubu Saved OBJ from Atiku and El-Rufai,” in which he unveiled a lesser-known, unvarnished portrayal of El-Rufai, one that starkly contrasts with the public persona often projected. The article delves into the intricacies of political dynamics, revealing facets of El-Rufai’s conduct and influence that remain obscured from the general populace.
Read the extract as published by The Nation newspaper of Tuesday February 11, 2025: “Somehow, the fiction has gone around that Nasir El-Rufai backed Uba Sani to be governor. El-Rufai has allowed this untruth to fester for a number of reasons.
“One, he wants them to call Governor Sani a traitor, so people who know El-Rufai’s biography of about-face would not focus on him, El-Rufai. Two, he wants to divert attention from the raft of questions over his handling of Kaduna State finances while he was governor. Three, he wants to make N150 billion bigger than N428 billion. It is his mathematics of duplicity.
That is his foul strategy. As a man who likes attention more than a god, he started this when he sat beside a man, Atiku, he first betrayed in public life. And, for irony, he was talking about loyalty. But on that panel, he emitted disloyalty. That is because he was too angry to know he was contradicting himself. It is the Shakespeare quote in his play Tempest: “I am vexed; bear with my weakness.”
“To start with, Governor Uba Sani never enjoyed El-Rufai’s support to be governor. He won the primary in spite of him, just as President Tinubu won the APC primary in spite of Muhammadu Buhari. But this did not force Governor Sani into fury. As Churchill wrote, “in war, resolution; in victory, magnanimity.” That explained why he has never thrown any invective against his predecessor since he became governor. Last week, he described his relationship with El-Rufai as “cordial.” It turned out to be a bullet rather than an oil of gladness to the mallam. He fought back, rather than exchange the courtesy. For him any act of civility is dubious. Fight is better than nice.
“It was then he threw a charge that the Tinubu government has given Kaduna N150 billion, and hence his successor has been in sync with the president”.
Now, let us confront the proverbial elephant in the room. In the lead up to the governorship primary election in Kaduna State, El-Rufai had anointed his own candidate, his former Chief of Staff, Muhammed Abdullahi. At the time, Uba Sani was not in El-Rufai’s equation, though he had expressed his intention to contest. However, mounting pressure from influential stakeholders within the party, both at the state and national levels, compelled El-Rufai to reconsider his preferred candidate. Concerns loomed large that the APC risked ceding the state to the opposition PDP, a scenario that later materialised during the presidential election. The APC under El-Rufai in Kaduna State was defeated by the PDP. This early intervention by party stakeholders saved the party during the governorship election and steering it away from potential defeat and ultimately securing victory with Uba Sani’s name on the ballot.
This time, the tide had turned decisively. A significant portion of the people of Kaduna State had grown weary of El-Rufai’s shadow looming over their political atmosphere. They were exhausted, yearning for a gust of fresh air to sweep through the corridors of power and breathe new life into their aspirations. They couldn’t wait for him to go.
Today, El-Rufai’s shadow looms large, even he has left, he still wants to remain relevant in the scheme of things in the state. But shadows, by their very nature, are ephemeral. They are cast by light, but they do not create it. Uba Sani’s victory was not a reflection of El-Rufai’s enduring influence but rather a repudiation of the notion that any single individual can claim ownership of a people’s destiny. The electorate, in their wisdom, saw beyond the specter of godfatherism and chose a leader who resonated with their aspirations, not one who was anointed by a self-styled political deity.
In the theater of politics, where egos are often inflated, it is easy to mistake the applause for the actor as evidence of his indispensability. But the stage of Kaduna’s politics is vast, and the actors are many. El-Rufai, for all his bravado and brilliance, was but one player in a complex ensemble. Uba Sani’s victory was not his magnum opus; it was a symphony conducted by the people, with Sani as the lead performer.
To attribute Sani’s success to El-Rufai is to ignore the countless hours of groundwork, the tireless campaigns, and the genuine connections forged with the people. It is to overlook the fact that politics, at its core, is about service, not servitude. Uba Sani did not ascend to the governorship on the wings of El-Rufai’s legacy; he climbed the arduous mountain of public trust on his own two feet.
The story of Uba Sani’s victory is not one of patronage but of perseverance. In a true democratic arena, no single individual, no matter how towering, can claim credit for the collective will of the people. El-Rufai’s role, if any, was that of a supporting actor in a play where the protagonist was, and always will be, the people of Kaduna State.
The myth of the kingmaker has been debunked. The throne belongs to those who earn it, not to those who presume to bestow it. And in Kaduna, Uba Sani has earned his place, not by the grace of El-Rufai, but by the will of Allaah and the people.
