Nasir el-Rufai: A Taste of His Own Medicine

The arrest of Audu Maikori, even after tendering an apology for sharing information found to be untrue about the killings in Southern Kaduna, reveals a side of Governor Nasir el-Rufai that amused me.

Ironically, spreading false and misleading information was el-Rufai 's major occupation during Jonathan's years. So much so that a number of us kept calling him out and reminding him of his age and status. One of such instances was when he alleged that Boko Haram was being sponsored by Christian Association of Nigeria, an accusation we interpreted as inciting, rude and low even by his own standard as a drama queen.

El-Rufai's citing of law now to disarm Maikori comes to me as either a stretch of hypocrisy or a measure of amnesia. There were only a few politicians who could match el-Rufai's record of serial public incitements pre-2015.

Goodluck Jonathan was a magnanimous - or rather incompetent? - leader, truth be told. He could've had El-Rufai locked up, and legally so, but he ignored the petty man. But, then, that only corroborated the former President's infamous assertion that if he were to use 70% of his power, he would be branded a dictator.

We are here, we are learning. Politics is an interesting venture.

-Mallam Gimba Kakanda.