How Obasanjo Rejected El-Rufai, Picked Yar’Adua  – Osuntokun

A former Director-General of the Labour Party Presidential Campaign Council, Akin Osuntokun, has alleged that the enduring political feud between Nasir El-Rufai and Nuhu Ribadu was exacerbated by a critical political choice made before the 2011 presidential election.

Speaking during an interview on ARISE News on Tuesday, Osuntokun alleged that Bola Tinubu’s decision to back Ribadu over El-Rufai left lingering resentment.

He said El-Rufai “never really got over” the development.

Osuntokun, who served as political adviser to former President Olusegun Obasanjo, said the roots of the rivalry date back to 2006 during discussions on Obasanjo’s succession plan.

He disclosed that a nine-member caucus set up to design the President’s exit strategy had reached what he described as “almost a consensus” to present El-Rufai as Obasanjo’s preferred successor.

“Individually, we were close to the President. That was a kind of father-son relationship,” Osuntokun recalled. “When he decided to put together an exit strategy, he then convened us into a formal caucus, nine of us.”

The caucus, chaired by then Attorney-General Bayo Ojo, was tasked with guiding the transition process and identifying a successor.

“We resolved that we should push this on him,” Osuntokun said. “It was a consensus – almost.”

Osuntokun revealed that Ribadu, who was then Chairman of the EFCC, fully supported the proposal.

“Oh yes. He was actually one of the main motivators. He and El-Rufai were like this – they were five and six. They were quite close,” he said.

He added that both men, being northern technocrats with high public profiles – El-Rufai as FCT Minister and Ribadu as EFCC chairman – were considered efficient and effective public officers.

“It was a done deal as far as we were concerned,” he stated.

However, Osuntokun said Obasanjo rejected the caucus’ recommendation, hinting that he had reservations about El-Rufai.

“He suspected that we were going to come up with El-Rufai,” Osuntokun said. “Like he told us, he said he knows El-Rufai more than us. He didn’t want to be harsh on Nasir by not considering 

him. He just said, ‘You guys are naive. You don’t know what I know about him.’”

Obasanjo eventually chose Umaru Musa Yar’Adua, citing his credentials and longstanding relationship with the Yar’Adua family.

“If you were to pick from the pool of governors from the North, Umaru had almost the best credentials. He was a highly disciplined person, with relative integrity and credibility,” Osuntokun said.

He also noted that Yar’Adua was the first governor to publicly support Obasanjo’s 1999 presidential ambition and that the late Shehu Yar’Adua’s image remained influential in Obasanjo’s thinking.

Osuntokun dismissed suggestions that the 2006 episode immediately caused a fallout between El-Rufai and Ribadu.

“No, not at all,” he said.

He explained that members of the caucus had assumed Yar’Adua would retain them in his political circle.

He said: “We felt that Umaru as president was going to adopt us the same way – that we were going to be with him. So it wasn’t a difficult outcome as far as we were concerned.”

However, relations with the Yar’Adua administration later deteriorated.

“Umaru didn’t want us near him. He wasn’t well-disposed towards us. That destabilised the group,” Osuntokun said.

According to him, both El-Rufai and Ribadu eventually went into exile amid political pressure and investigations.

“That led to a rise in their political profile because of the way they were treated,” he added.