{"id":177051,"date":"2025-09-01T12:15:03","date_gmt":"2025-09-01T11:15:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/uncategorized\/el-rufai-defends-right-to-criticize-tinubus-government"},"modified":"2025-09-01T13:20:01","modified_gmt":"2025-09-01T12:20:01","slug":"el-rufai-defends-right-to-criticize-tinubus-government","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/el-rufai-defends-right-to-criticize-tinubus-government","title":{"rendered":"El-Rufai Defends Right to Criticize Tinubu’s Government"},"content":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Nigeria. <\/strong><\/span>Former Kaduna State governor, Nasir El-Rufai, says he will not keep quiet if President Bola Tinubu\u2019s government is failing Nigerians, despite being one of those who helped bring the administration to power.<\/p>\n

Speaking on Channels Television\u2019s Sunday Politics, El-Rufai said contributing to Tinubu\u2019s rise does not mean he should look away when things go wrong.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf Asiwaju\u2019s government has derailed, if it is not doing what we thought he would do, if he is not serving the interests of Nigerians, should I not criticize him because I contributed in bringing him? Is that the logic in Nigeria these days?\u201d he asked.<\/p>\n

The former minister stressed that government exists to serve the people, not individuals.<\/p>\n

\u201cEven if it is my son or my father that is president or governor and he is not doing the right thing, I have the right to disagree or criticize. Is that what Nigeria has become? where we can no longer speak the truth?\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

The ex-governor described himself as a mentor to many, including current Kaduna governor, Uba Sani, but added that loyalty to individuals should not prevent him from speaking out.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy biggest pride in life is that I have elevated and mentored many people to greatness. But when a person derails, when he doesn\u2019t do the right thing, I will not keep quiet simply because I contributed in getting him there,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

El-Rufai also explained why he no longer maintains close contact with some of his political associates.<\/p>\n

\u201cOnce I leave a job, I move on. I don\u2019t go back. I don\u2019t call you. If you want advice or you want to ask any question about what has happened, you can call me, and I will respond. Other than that, I don\u2019t,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

For More News And Analysis About Nigeria<\/span> Follow Africa-Press<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Nigeria. Former Kaduna State governor, Nasir El-Rufai, says he will not keep quiet if President Bola Tinubu\u2019s government is failing Nigerians, despite being one of those who helped bring the administration to power. Speaking on Channels Television\u2019s Sunday Politics, El-Rufai said contributing to Tinubu\u2019s rise does not mean he should look away when […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":177050,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[24,14],"tags":[1651,254,945],"class_list":["post-177051","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-policy","tag-el-rufai-2","tag-nigeria","tag-tinubu"],"yoast_head":"\nEl-Rufai Defends Right to Criticize Tinubu's Government - Nigeria<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Former Kaduna State governor, Nasir El-Rufai, says he will not keep quiet if President Bola Tinubu\u2019s government is faili ...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/el-rufai-defends-right-to-criticize-tinubus-government\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"El-Rufai Defends Right to Criticize Tinubu's Government\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Former Kaduna State governor, Nasir El-Rufai, says he will not keep quiet if President Bola Tinubu\u2019s government is faili ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/el-rufai-defends-right-to-criticize-tinubus-government\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Nigeria\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-09-01T11:15:03+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-09-01T12:20:01+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/sites\/3\/2025\/09\/sm_1756716615.453511.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1024\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"683\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/el-rufai-defends-right-to-criticize-tinubus-government#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/el-rufai-defends-right-to-criticize-tinubus-government\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"headline\":\"El-Rufai Defends Right to Criticize Tinubu’s Government\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-09-01T11:15:03+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-09-01T12:20:01+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/el-rufai-defends-right-to-criticize-tinubus-government\"},\"wordCount\":321,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/el-rufai-defends-right-to-criticize-tinubus-government#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/sites\/3\/2025\/09\/sm_1756716615.453511.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"El Rufai\",\"Nigeria\",\"Tinubu\"],\"articleSection\":[\"all news\",\"Policy\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/el-rufai-defends-right-to-criticize-tinubus-government#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/el-rufai-defends-right-to-criticize-tinubus-government\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/el-rufai-defends-right-to-criticize-tinubus-government\",\"name\":\"El-Rufai Defends Right to Criticize Tinubu's Government - 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