Former Kaduna State Governor, Nasir El-Rufai, has criticized Reno Omokri, a former aide to ex-President Goodluck Jonathan, describing him as a “political mercenary” willing to work for any government or individual that pays him.
El-Rufai also brought up an earlier allegation of identity fraud, where an American woman accused Omokri of using her son’s name, Wendell Simlin, to falsely implicate former Central Bank Governor Lamido Sanusi in ties to the terrorist group Boko Haram.
On Sunday, Omokri had tweeted, “Nasir el-Rufai is just playing games by pretending to be frustrated over not being made a minister, while criticizing the Federal Government’s funding of a Lagos rail project. Under Buhari, Nigeria borrowed $2 billion to build a railway in Niger Republic. Did El-Rufai complain back then?”
Omokri had tweeted on Sunday, “Nasir el-Rufai is just being clever by half in expressing his frustration at not being made a minister by attacking the funding of a rail project in Lagos by the Federal Government. Under Buhari, Nigeria took out a $2 billion loan to build a railway in Niger Republic. Did el-Rufai complain, then?
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Not at all! Today, that same Niger is now hostile towards Nigeria. If we can build a railway worth $2 billion (which was 10% of the Niger Republic’s GDP at then) for a foreign country, simply because General Buhari’s father was from the Niger Republic, why shouldn’t the Federal Government contribute towards building a railway in Lagos State?
“After all, 8% of Nigeria’s population lives in Lagos, while 35% of our GDP comes from Lagos, which contributes ₦44.17 trillion to our economy. How much does Niger Republic contribute to our GDP? Did the Federal Government under Jonathan not also spend $1.2 billion building the Abuja-Kaduna superfast 187-kilometre railway?”
In response, El-Rufai shared pictures on X of Omokri protesting against Tinubu’s election and making unflattering remarks about him.
El-Rufai wrote, “The interesting lifecycle of Wendell Simlin, also sometimes retained as a political mercenary by any person or government that can pay.”
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