EXTRA: ‘Would you say this if your father was in government?’ — el-Rufai’s wife tackles son over Tinubu

Hadiza, the wife of Nasir el-Rufai, former governor of Kaduna, has tackled Bashir, her son, for criticising the President Bola Tinubu administration. 

The two members of el-Rufai’s family debated on X on Tuesday after Bashir said “a mental illness” was “permeating” Tinubu’s media team following the presidency’s latest riposte to former President Olusegun Obasanjo.

On Sunday, Obasanjo described the 2023 elections as a “travesty” and posited that Nigeria must appoint new, credible leaders for the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) with short tenures to prevent corruption and re-establish trust in the institution.

The presidency did not take Obasanjo’s remarks lightly and questioned the former president’s moral ground.

Bayo Onanuga, the president’s spokesperson, said Obasanjo presided over the most fraudulent election in Nigeria’s history.

Onanuga added that subsequent administrations have been battling the “poor choices in economic management made” during the former president’s tenure.

In his post, Bashir described Tinubu’s media team as “ineffectual clowns” for attacking Obasanjo when “inflation is at 33 percent”.

The post racked up several comments, one of which was from Hadiza.

The former Kaduna first lady asked Bashir if he would “be saying this if your father were part of this government?”

Underneath, Bashir replied that his father “would have resigned by now due to the failure of the administration”.

He added that el-Rufai would have “dissociated” himself from the government.