By Akin Adeoya
Nasir El-Rufai is Angry
When he came out recently railing from all angles against the Bola Tinubu government, many easily traced it back to his frustrating and inexplicable ordeal at the Senate when his nomination for ministerial appointment came up for confirmation. The ADC coalition was a perfect platform for him to have his pound of the PBAT flesh. And he will love to dance all the way to the grill with it.
If anyone was going to be so easily denied a ministerial appointment in the PBAT government, it should not have been El Rufai, a two time governor and former power broker under the Obasanjo regime and one of the most influential Buharists in the immediate past administration. This is not to mention his influence in the North in general.
It was an influence he put in place to virtually turn the tide of pro-Buhari power brokers in favour of the Emilokan agenda in the entire northern APC power structure. The listless Buhari’s kitchen cabinet had virtually resolved to settle for a northern candidate, the then Senate president, Ahman Lawan. It fell to Rufai to rally the northern governors to pull back and fall back to the default position of the North-South rotation dynamic.
Once the northen opposition was cleared, leaving Tinubu to fight it out with pure Southern opposition, the path to Aso Rock became smooth for the uncrowned king of Lagos state.
An articulate and versatile political strategist, many easily assumed that El Rufai was already well-positioned to become one of the power brokers in the incoming Tinubu administration. He was even featured in some media interviews with speculations about his expected role in the new government, where he exchanged banter about his planned further studies and how he would be able to juggle both assignments.
He was very confident that he would be at the heart of the PBAT government.
El Rufai didn’t reckon with two things:
He had an adversary in Nuhu Ribadu, National Security Adviser to PBAT. Some pundits have suggested that a Ribadu was not excited about the prospect of a powerful El Rufai running around Abuja and potentially positioning as the northern champion for 2031!
In any case, the ONSA office cobbled together a deconstruction of Ahmed El Rufai that compelled the usually wobbly Akpabio-led Senate to disqualify him for a ministerial position. Knowing the usual horse trading that goes on to resolve such matters, anyone with an elementary understanding of how things go in the power corridors of Abuja would know that the only reason this particular senate would have the temerity to stop a PBAT ministerial nominee is if PBAT was in support of the move!
The impact on El Rufai can only be imagined. Tinubu had made the classic Seneca move on him. Seneca(c. 4 BC–AD 65), the Roman Stoic philosopher and statesman, aka Seneca the Younger articulated the provocative idea of the “toxicity of unresolved debts” in his work “De Beneficiis” (“On Benefits” or “On Favors”)
He made three basic points: 1. When someone does you an immense favour, you may feel indebted or obligated, and this, of course, undermines your freedom and autonomy.
- “What is more wretched than to be indebted to a pirate? Yet to some men even a pirate has done a service”-To quote him directly. He explains that if a pirate saves your life, or career, you are compelled to repay, despite your scruples about his character and this creates an intolerable moral conflict.
- His solution to the above dilemma is both controversial and ruthless: Eliminate the benefactor.
When a favour becomes a burden
It has been explained by many authorities that Seneca did not mean to eliminate in literal terms. Rather it was to prevent the challenge of moral compromise which may come out of transactional relationships. But in a world run by power buccaneers, the more direct interpretation obviously holds sway. The issue of morality, which was essential to Senaca does not always feature in modern power play where morality is no longer a thing.
Nasir El Rufai lost to his own yeoman’s work for PBAT and the potency of his future political potential. Now he is back. And he is angry. And he is dangerous.
*Akin Adeoya is managing director of Marketing Mix and a public affairs commentator.
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