{"id":198165,"date":"2026-03-31T17:58:22","date_gmt":"2026-03-31T16:58:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/uncategorized\/mahdi-shehu-warns-supporters-against-political-battles"},"modified":"2026-03-31T19:10:42","modified_gmt":"2026-03-31T18:10:42","slug":"mahdi-shehu-warns-supporters-against-political-battles","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/mahdi-shehu-warns-supporters-against-political-battles","title":{"rendered":"Mahdi Shehu Warns Supporters Against Political Battles"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"color: #ff6600\"><strong>Africa-Press &#8211; Nigeria. <\/strong><\/span>Public affairs commentator Mahdi Shehu has warned Nigerians against becoming deeply embroiled in political conflicts, saying such loyalty often ends in regret.<\/p>\n<p>Shehu issued the warning in a post shared on X on Monday, reflecting on lessons from the burial of the mother of former Kaduna State governor Nasir El-Rufai.<\/p>\n<p>According to him, the event revealed what he described as the true nature of politics and politicians.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBe careful about politicians all over the world because nothing is permanent about them, especially if their focus is power, fame and influence at all cost,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>He cautioned supporters not to take sides in political battles, stressing that politicians often move on and reconcile, leaving their followers behind.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDon\u2019t ever join them to fight their opponents, friends or perceived enemies because they will make you regret your actions forever,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n<p>Shehu noted that many politicians have a tendency to abandon loyal supporters after using them.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMost politicians will dump, ignore and avoid you even after doing the dirtiest job for them because they forget those who fought for them but quickly embrace those who abused them,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>He pointed to the burial event as an example, highlighting how people once considered enemies came together.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cJust notice how those considered to be El-Rufai\u2019s enemies and detractors trooped to the burial ground shedding tears, and how he welcomed them,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>He also described the display of unity among politicians as insincere.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSworn political enemies from different backgrounds came together to express what I call fake love, fake condolences and fake sympathy after abusing each other in public,\u201d he stated.<\/p>\n<p>Shehu further warned that politicians often encourage their supporters to attack others, only to later reconcile with those same people.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cPoliticians will incite their followers to insult and abuse others, only for one day to see them together in a friendly mood, reducing the supporter to an idiot,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>To support his argument, he cited examples from both Nigeria and abroad.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSome American politicians who abused Donald Trump are now part of his inner cabinet,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>He added that in Nigeria, \u201cmany politicians who once used harsh words against Bola Tinubu are now part of his government, acting like nothing happened.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Shehu also suggested that political alliances can change rapidly, even among rivals.<\/p>\n<p>He claimed that just as the Sultan is reportedly making moves for the release of Nnamdi Kanu, some of El-Rufai\u2019s perceived enemies may also begin efforts to support him in the future.<\/p>\n<p>However, he warned that such relationships are often driven by personal interest rather than national good.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt is never for God and country but as part of an IOU to cash in later,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>He added that vengeance always lurks nearby.<\/p>\n<p><strong>For More News And Analysis About <span style=\"color: #ff6600\">Nigeria<\/span> Follow <span style=\"color: #ff6600\">Africa-Press<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Africa-Press &#8211; Nigeria. Public affairs commentator Mahdi Shehu has warned Nigerians against becoming deeply embroiled in political conflicts, saying such loyalty often ends in regret. Shehu issued the warning in a post shared on X on Monday, reflecting on lessons from the burial of the mother of former Kaduna State governor Nasir El-Rufai. According to [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":198164,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[24,14],"tags":[254],"class_list":["post-198165","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-policy","tag-nigeria"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v26.1 (Yoast SEO v27.0) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Mahdi Shehu Warns Supporters Against Political Battles - Nigeria<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Public affairs commentator Mahdi Shehu has warned Nigerians against becoming deeply embroiled in political conflicts, sa ...\" \/>\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\/mahdi-shehu-warns-supporters-against-political-battles\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Mahdi Shehu Warns Supporters Against Political Battles\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Public affairs commentator Mahdi Shehu has warned Nigerians against becoming deeply embroiled in political conflicts, sa ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/mahdi-shehu-warns-supporters-against-political-battles\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Nigeria\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-03-31T16:58:22+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-03-31T18:10:42+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/sites\/3\/2026\/03\/sm_1774980606.081625.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"720\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"411\" \/>\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\/mahdi-shehu-warns-supporters-against-political-battles#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/mahdi-shehu-warns-supporters-against-political-battles\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"headline\":\"Mahdi Shehu Warns Supporters Against Political Battles\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-03-31T16:58:22+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-03-31T18:10:42+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/mahdi-shehu-warns-supporters-against-political-battles\"},\"wordCount\":480,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/mahdi-shehu-warns-supporters-against-political-battles#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/sites\/3\/2026\/03\/sm_1774980606.081625.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Nigeria\"],\"articleSection\":[\"all news\",\"Policy\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/mahdi-shehu-warns-supporters-against-political-battles#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/mahdi-shehu-warns-supporters-against-political-battles\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/mahdi-shehu-warns-supporters-against-political-battles\",\"name\":\"Mahdi Shehu Warns Supporters Against Political Battles - 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