The former Governor of Kaduna State, Nasir El-Rufai, has struck back at Reno Omokri, a former adviser to ex-President Goodluck Jonathan, for comments implying that El-Rufai is dissatisfied because President Bola Tinubu did not choose him as a minister.
On Monday, El-Rufai described Omokri as a political mercenary retained by any paying person or government in a post on his official, X (previously Twitter) handle.
He also referred to a similar incident in which an American woman accused Omokri of creating links between former Central Bank of Nigeria Governor, Lamido Sanusi and the terrorist group, Boko Haram by using her son’s name, Wendell Simlin.
The conversation began after Omokri criticised El-Rufai in a tweet on Sunday. Omokri accused him of dishonesty for criticising the federal government’s support of a Lagos rail project while maintaining silence on a $2 billion railway loan to Niger Republic during the Buhari administration.
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Omokri claimed that Lagos, which accounts for 35 perceni of Nigeria’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is significantly more important to the country than Niger Republic.
El-Rufai responded by sharing photographs on X, showing Omokri protesting Tinubu’s victory and making disparaging remarks about him.
This reaction regenerated the existing public feud between the two political figures. The back-and-forth has brought to light long-standing grudges and personal animosities in Nigeria’s political realm.
