Senator Ali Ndume has said that former Kaduna State Governor, Nasir El-Rufai, is now facing the consequences of turning his back on Rotimi Amaechi during the 2023 APC presidential primaries.

Ndume, who was the director-general of Amaechi’s campaign at the time, explained that El-Rufai was originally with their team but changed his support and joined Bola Tinubu shortly before the party primaries.

Speaking on Arise News, Ndume said El-Rufai may now be frustrated by how things turned out after the switch. He said, “El-Rufai was supposed to be on our side, but somehow, he moved over. He was with us fully before Tinubu was nominated, but he later gave Tinubu his full support. Tinubu even invited him to join the government.”

Ndume also said he hasn’t been close to El-Rufai since then. He remembered how El-Rufai worked hard to help Tinubu win the presidential election.

“But sometimes I think to myself, ‘Well, you did it to us; now you’re getting your payback.’ I was the Senate Chief Whip when El-Rufai came for ministerial screening, and we were almost ready to let him just take a bow and go,” he said.

After Tinubu won, he nominated El-Rufai for a ministerial role. However, the Senate rejected El-Rufai’s nomination. Since then, El-Rufai has left the All Progressives Congress (APC) and joined the Social Democratic Party (SDP), where he has become one of the strong critics of President Tinubu’s administration.

Ndume’s comments suggest that El-Rufai may now be dealing with the effects of political decisions he made during the 2023 election season.