The former governor of Kaduna State, Nasir El-Rufai has described former aide to ex-President Goodluck Jonathan’s, Reno Omokri as a political mercenary retained by any paying person or government.
Speaking on his X handle on Monday, El-Rufai lambasted Omokri over comments that he is frustrated after being left out of President Tinubu’s cabinet
Irked by his comment, the former governor referred to a past case of alleged identity theft, where an American woman accused Omokri of using her son’s name, Wendell Simlin, in an attempt to link the former Central Bank of Nigeria Governor, Lamido Sanusi, to the terrorist group Boko Haram.
”Omokri had tweeted on Sunday, “Nasir el-Rufai is just being clever by half in expressing his frustration at not being made a minister by attacking the funding of a rail project in Lagos by the Federal Government.
”Under Buhari, Nigeria took out a $2 billion loan to build a railway in Niger Republic. Did el-Rufai complain, then? “Not at all! Today, that same Niger is now hostile towards Nigeria.
”If we can build a railway worth $2 billion (which was 10% of the Niger Republic’s GDP at then) for a foreign country, simply because General Buhari’s father was from the Niger Republic, why shouldn’t the Federal Government contribute towards building a railway in Lagos State? “After all, 8% of Nigeria’s population lives in Lagos, while 35% of our GDP comes from Lagos, which contributes ₦44.17 trillion to our economy.
”How much does Niger Republic contribute to our GDP? Did the Federal Government under Jonathan not also spend $1.2 billion building the Abuja-Kaduna superfast 187-kilometre railway?” Omokri said on his X handle
In response, El-Rufai shared pictures on X of Omokri protesting against Tinubu’s election and making unflattering remarks about him.
“The interesting life cycle of Wendell Simlin, also sometimes retained as a political mercenary by any person or government that can pay.”El-Rufai wrote.
El-Rufai’s comments sparked reactions within the political sphere, particularly among All Progressives Congress chieftains. Some viewed his remarks as an affront to President Tinubu’s administration.