MAN IN THE NEWS: The Metamorphosis of an Accidental Public Servant
By Kabir Akintayo
Few political titans in Nigeria’s history embody the contradictions, controversy and brilliance of Nasir Ahmad El-Rufai, alias “Malam.” A man of diminutive stature but oversised influence, he has left his mark at every stage of his public service career—whether as the pioneer Director-General of the Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE), the reformist Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), or the Action Governor of Kaduna State. A self-proclaimed “Accidental Public Servant,” El-Rufai has played a central role in Nigeria’s governance evolution for over two decades, often acting as both a kingmaker and sometimes as a disruptor or a destroyer.
But his political trajectory has also been one of shifting allegiances, calculated pragmatism, and a biting rhetoric that spares no one—until it is politically expedient to do so. He is a man who praises a leader today and disowns them tomorrow when political winds change. However, when it comes to governance, he is a result-oriented leader.
During his tenure as Governor of Kaduna, the state experienced significant development. According to a report by Economic Confidential, Kaduna was ranked fourth on the 2022 State Viability Index, meaning it could survive without federal government allocation. He invested heavily in infrastructure, attracting investors, creating job opportunities, and constructing roads to improve connectivity and development.
Had he been part of the Tinubu administration—before an alleged security report blocked his ministerial confirmation—El-Rufai would have likely brought his characteristic radicalism to reform the power sector, a portfolio originally assigned to him. But perhaps, he would also have inevitably fallen out with Tinubu, just as he has done with virtually every major political figure he has worked with.
From BPE to FCT: A Reformer Emerges
El-Rufai’s entry into public service came in 1999 when President Olusegun Obasanjo appointed him Director-General of the Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE) and Secretary of the National Council of Privatisation (NCP). In this role, he spearheaded Nigeria’s privatisation program, overseeing the sale of government-owned enterprises to private investors. His work was widely acknowledged as laying the groundwork for economic liberalisation
His performance at the BPE caught the attention of Obasanjo, who, in 2003, appointed him Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT). This was where El-Rufai cemented his reputation as a no-nonsense reformer. His tenure was marked by a ruthless demolition exercise that saw thousands of illegal structures removed in Abuja. He restored the city’s original master plan, introduced Nigeria’s first computerised land registry, and made land ownership more transparent and accessible to ordinary Nigerians.
While he was praised for restoring Abuja’s orderliness, his methods were widely criticised as being too harsh, with accusations of selective justice. His tenure also revealed his sharp tongue and confrontational style. He famously clashed with the National Assembly, referring to legislators as “a bunch of corrupt people.” This earned him many enemies in the political class but also solidified his image as a fearless technocrat willing to step on toes.
Academic Pursuits and Political Rebirth
After nine years in public office, El-Rufai went into self-exile in 2007, during which he pursued further education. He attended Georgetown University, the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University, and several other institutions, earning certificates in Public Policy, Management, and Law. Returning to Nigeria in 2010, he became a vocal critic of the government, maintaining a popular weekly column and increasing his political involvement.
El-Rufai played a key role in the formation of the All Progressives Congress (APC), serving as interim deputy national secretary and later becoming Kaduna State Governor after winning the 2015 election.
As governor, El-Rufai embarked on bold reforms to modernise Kaduna State by Implementing Treasury Single Account (TSA), consolidating 470 government accounts and recovering ₦24.7 billion. He pioneered electronic voting in local government elections, making Kaduna the first Nigerian state to do so. While attracting $500 million in investments in the state, which boosted Kaduna’s economy, he also created jobs, reform the education system by employing qualified teachers.
However, his tenure was also deeply divisive. His replacement of the southern Christian deputy governor, Barnabas Bantex, with Dr. Hadiza Balarabe, a Muslim, sparked outrage. Critics accused him of deepening Kaduna’s ethnic and religious divide. His handling of the Southern Kaduna crisis was particularly controversial. The statement he made that his government had “paid Fulani herdsmen to stop killing” fueled accusations of bias against the predominantly Christian Southern Kaduna population. His blunt approach only exacerbated tensions. Throughout his tenure, the outskirt of the state was plunged into ethnic violence with scores of people dead while others were displaced.
Political Shape-Shifting: Friends Today, Enemies Tomorrow
If there is one thing that defines El-Rufai’s politics, it is his fluidity in political alliances. Over the years, he has praised, criticised, and re-aligned with nearly every major political figure in Nigeria. From Chief Olusegun Obasanjo to Dr. Goodluck Jonathan, to Gen Muhammadu Buhari, Atiku Abubakar, Nuhu Ribadu, and President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
In his book, Accidental Public Servant and several other written works, El-Rufai described Atiku as one of the most corrupt public servants in the country’s history. In 2017, when Atiku was preparing to contest against President Buhari, El-Rufai described him as corrupt and ambitious, promising to join efforts to humiliate him at the polls. After falling out with President Tinubu, same El-Rufai is now in bed with Atiku because the duo believe they have a common enemy in the President.
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Obasanjo and Atiku made him politically but he has over the years, condemned the two men and presented himself as a Saint. He attacked Obasanjo’s integrity apparently because the then President chose Umaru Yar’Adua over him as successor.
In his book “My Watch,” Obasanjo had himself described El-Rufai as “A pathological purveyor of untruths and half-truths” with a “penchant for reputation savaging – even against close family members.” While acknowledging his talent and brilliance, Obasanjo dismissed El-Rufai as “naïve and immature,” stating that he requires strict supervision to be effective.
El-Rufai was allegedly spying on Atiku and reporting to Obasanjo to curry the latter’s favour due to his ambition to be President, not knowing that the President was only using him. He was therefore disappointed that Yar’Adua was chosen instead of him. He fell out with Yar’Adua while he was President and never forgave him even in death. While talking to supporters as Kaduna state Governor many years later, El-Rufai, openly bragged about his pedigree in seeing the back of his enemies and mentioned Yar’Adua as one of the people who dared him and were now six feet below the ground.
In 2010, while hoping to be President Jonathan’s running mate ahead of the 2011 elections, he said everything good in the textbook about him, even affirming his right to contest inspite of the People’s Democratic Party’s (PDP)’s zoning arrangement. To please Jonathan, El-Rufai condemned both General Buhari and another former Head of State, General Ibrahim Babangida who were trying to contest against him because the ruling party’s zoning arrangement favoured a Northern Presidency. He used the harshest and rudest words in the dictionary to describe the elder statesmen:
“I was 25 years old when Buhari and Babangida were Heads of State and I am now 50 and they still want to be Head of State. I don’t understand that. I don’t understand that at all and I call on the young people of Nigeria to take their future into their hands and ensure that in the next election, they vote for a new generation of leaders,” El-Rufai said and also went ahead to, in another forum, describe Buhari as “perpetually unelectable because his record as a military head of state, and afterwards, is a warning many Nigerians have wisely heeded.”
El-Rufai condemned Buhari as a dictator with “stone-age” economic policies and who is intolerant of free press and opposing views. But when President Jonathan picked Namadi Sambo as his running mate, El-Rufai bared is fangs and never spared him of his caustic tongue until he joined effort with others to make him lose reelection in 2015.
To get back at Jonathan and find his bearing out of political wilderness, El-Rufai became one of the staunchest supporters of General Buhari in the run up to the 2015 elections; the same stone age Buhari, the same intolerant and ancient dictator, the same man he had declared “perpetually unelectable.”
Four years later, Same El-Rufai was caught on NTA threatening international election monitors with death (Body Bags) if they crossed bounds in any way that did not favour President Buhari.
Basking in the euphoria of his immense powers as one of Nigeria’s most influential governors, El-Rufai went to Lagos and started to brag about his prowess in dealing with godfathers, adding that he could help the state leaders in removing any godfather breathing down their necks. Many people saw the statement as a direct attack on Tinubu. It was obvious that El-Rufai was among the political heavyweights around Buhari who were working against Tinubu’s 2023 ambition.
Neutralising enemies and turning foes to friends is one act Tinubu has done effortlessly over the decades and that has been the key to his election-winning prowess. When the Master Strategist did his tricks on the loquacious governor, the diminutive titan did not only become a Tinubu convert, he became his attack dog and barked at anyone thought to be against his ambition, including President Buhari who he once hero-worshipped.
Just like Obasanjo used him against his benefactor – Atiku – and dumped him, the circumstances surrounding the rejection of his ministerial nomination by the Senate also looked like President Tinubu had dumped him. Predictably, El-Rufai’s fangs are out in the open.
Feeling humiliated by his nomination and rejection, El-Rufai has taken up the position of the government’s number one critic, often launching acerbic attacks on the personality of the President and seeking to incite the Northern population against the administration.
He has not spared his successor, Senator Uba Sani, who is another victim of his doublespeak. Same Sani he campaigned for vigorously has now become a disaster in governance according to El-Rufai and sons. This is because Governor Sani has dared to ask questions on how his predecessor managed or mismanaged the state resources. And when El-Rufai is attacking the governor, President Tinubu equally receives a lot of stray bullets.
He has recruited his children in the anti-government movement. To attest to the fact that their criticism of the President is self-serving and not altruistic, El-Rufai’s wife, Hadiza, even asked the son, Bashir, openly on social media recently whether he would dare criticise the President if his father was serving under him as Minister.
Last Line
The fact that El-Rufai is not serving in Tinubu’s cabinet is a loss to the President and the nation at large because everyone can attest to his capacity. But it looks like El-Rufai himself sees the way the President seemingly dumped him as a big loss and personal humiliation, that is why he and his sons have been up in arms against the administration.
El-Rufai is that type of troublemaker one would rather have with him pissing outside, than outside throwing tantrums inside.
When an El-Rufai is rendered jobless by a President he removed his Baban Riga to fight for in the open market, that President must face the consequences of such audacity. This is because you can’t beat a child and expect the child not to cry.
El-Rufai has a long history in political sophistry and his pattern is very familiar and predictable. Nigerians can tell the difference between who is speaking and fighting for them and who is hurting over personal vendetta.
