El-Rufai Criticizes Tinubu’s Performance, Cites Economic, Security Failures

Former Kaduna State Governor, Nasir El-Rufai has launched a scathing critique of President Bola Tinubu’s administration, citing widespread disapproval across the country and accusing the federal government of failure on multiple fronts.

In an interview, El-Rufai revealed that internal polling ahead of the 2023 presidential election indicated a tight race, but that Tinubu was consistently trailing in several key regions.

“We had done scientific polling. In parts of the Southeast and the North, Tinubu had a 91% disapproval rating. Even in Lagos, it was 78%. In the Southwest, the numbers were slightly better, but he still couldn’t break a 50% approval rating,” El-Rufai stated.

He further claimed that since assuming office, President Tinubu has performed “miserably”, blaming the administration for a worsening economy, rising insecurity, and the absence of coherent policies on trade, industry, and investment. “They are raising a lot of revenues, but we don’t know where the money is going—there are no results,” he said.

While acknowledging that states now receive more federal allocations, El-Rufai argued that the federal government cannot shift the responsibility for development entirely to state governors. “Major infrastructure like power, rail, aviation, and telecom are all federal responsibilities. Yet, there’s no significant progress,” he said.

Referring to the president’s recent trip to Kaduna to commission projects, El-Rufai claimed that “90% of the projects commissioned were initiated and almost completed by my administration. No new projects have been started or completed by the Tinubu administration in two years despite increased revenues.”

He also questioned the effectiveness of federal spending on security. “Every month, ₦100 billion is deducted from the federation account and sent to security agencies. Yet, over 2.2 million Nigerians were abducted in 2024, and more than 615,000 were killed. These numbers are worse than what we saw during the Buhari administration,” he said, citing data from the National Bureau of Statistics.

El-Rufai described the security situation as dire and accused the government of unconstitutional spending. “₦1.5 trillion has been spent without appropriation from either the National Assembly or state assemblies. It’s an impeachable offense.”

In closing, he dismissed arguments that two years is too short to evaluate Tinubu’s presidency.

“He judged others after one year. The same standard should apply to him. By every available metric—economy, security, infrastructure—this government has failed.”