Nasir el-Rufai, former governor of Kaduna, says the north must forge an alliance with the south-south to “save” Nigeria.

 

Speaking on Friday during a condolence visit to the family of Edwin Clark, the late elder statesman and Niger Delta advocate, who died on February 17, el-Rufai said the north and south-south had a strong historical political partnership.

 

“In the 60s, 70s and 80s, the traditional political partners of the north was the south-south. Let us not forget that. Let us go back to that. Let us save this country because it really requires saving. We need a rescue operation,” el-Rufai said.

 

Ahead of the 2027 general election, there have been talks of coalitions and alliances with politicians across opposition parties holding “strategic meetings”.

 

El-Rufai, who was led to the condolence visit by Atiku Abubakar, said the former vice-president deserves credit for spearheading economic reforms during the Olusegun Obasanjo administration.

 

Abubakar was vice-president to former president Olusegun Obasanjo government from 1999 to 2007.

 

The former governor has been meeting members of opposition parties in recent weeks.

 

In January, el-Rufai met with Hamza Al-Mustapha, ex-aide to late Sani Abacha; Shehu Gabam, national chairman of the Social Democratic Party (PDP); and other politicians in the nation’s capital.

 

Segun Showunmi, a former spokesperson of the Atiku Abubakar campaign organisation, said the meeting was to strategise ahead of the 2027 elections.

 

There have been speculations that el-Rufai has been working to pitch his political tent elsewhere.

 

Last month, el-Rufai said the distance between him and the All Progressives Congress (APC) is “widening”.