I’m not fighting Tinubu, he was never my friend, I only pushed for southern presidency – El-rufai

 Former governor of Kaduna State, Nasir El-rufai, says he has never been chummy with or close to President Bola Tinubu.

El-Rufai said he decided to pitch his tent with Tinubu during the 2022 presidential primary election of the All Progressives Congress, APC, because he believed the presidency should return to the south.

El-rufai, who spoke in an interview with Arise TV on Monday, stated that he was indifferent to the choice of candidate but only interested in the emergence of a southern candidate, irrespective of the person that emerged.

He said, “I was indifferent on who became the presidential candidate of APC.

“The only thing I was determined to do was to stop a Northerner from becoming the candidate of the party based on what I know.

“When we formed the party in 2013, we agreed that after Buhari’s 8 years, power will go to the South.

“Tinubu was never my friend, we weren’t close”.

El-Rufai noted that he had no issues with Tinubu, noting that he was only concerned about the state of affairs of the APC.

El-Rufai recently declared that he no longer recognises the APC because the party organs have not met in the past two years.

He said: “I’m a founding member of the APC and still a member, but I have concerns about how the party is being run, and I have expressed those concerns.

“I expressed those concerns because I feel like a father who has given birth to a child. I know the investment and compromises we had to make to build what is now the APC.

“I have no issues with Tinubu’s administration. People say I’m a critic, but I have never said a word about the Tinubu administration.

“My comment in a panel on democracy in Nigeria was about the APC.”