2027: South-South won’t align with you – Ex-militant leader tells El-Rufai

Tamarauemi Ebimini

Ex-militant leader in the Niger Delta region and Mayor of Urhoboland, Eshanekpe Israel, has slammed the immediate past governor of Kaduna State, Nasir El-Rufai, over his comment on the 2027 general elections.

El-Rufai had stated that the people of the South-South geopolitical zone are wiser now and wouldn’t align with the North against the All Progressives Congress (APC)-led administration of President Bola Tinubu.

The Mayor of Urhoboland made his remarks on Monday in Abuja while hosting some leaders of thought from the Niger Delta belt. His statement was in response to comments attributed to the former Kaduna governor, who reportedly called on the North to align with the South-South geopolitical zone to take over power from the incumbent administration in 2027.

According to the Mayor, El-Rufai was overreaching himself by assuming that he had any followership in the North, let alone among the people of the South-South, who would join him in unseating one of their own once again, as they did in 2015 against then-President Goodluck Jonathan.

The ex-militant leader challenged El-Rufai to tell Nigerians what his legacies in Kaduna State were, apart from sorrow, pain, and bloodshed during his eight years as governor. He stressed that the people of Southern Kaduna are grateful to Tinubu for relieving them from the scourge of bloodthirsty bandits.

He asserted that northerners are now wise enough to recognize that El-Rufai and his ilk are not for the masses but for themselves, their families, and their proxies.

He accused the former governor of ruling his people with an iron fist, noting that such governance almost cost the APC victory in the state.