A chieftain of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), Dele Momodu, has explained that former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar’s decision to appoint former Kaduna State Governor Nasir El-Rufai as deputy chairman of his 2027 Presidential Campaign Council was partly intended to recognise what he described as El-Rufai’s sacrifices.
Momodu, who is Deputy Director-General of the campaign’s Media and Communications Directorate, spoke on Channels Television’s The Morning Brief on Friday.
Atiku unveiled his campaign council on Thursday, naming Kashim Ibrahim-Imam as chairman and El-Rufai as deputy chairman.
Explaining the appointment, Momodu said, “It is a way of honouring his sacrifice because his travails, I can say, are quite political in nature.”
He also pointed to El-Rufai’s return to Nigeria despite the possibility of facing arrest as evidence, in his view, of the former governor’s commitment to the country.
“He’s being held down not because he has committed any crime. He could have stayed away from the country. He chose to come back to the country. He knew he was going to be arrested, and he was arrested,” Momodu said.
El-Rufai is facing legal proceedings and has denied wrongdoing. Momodu also criticised the bail conditions attached to the former governor’s case, describing them as excessive.
“The bail conditions given to him are so horrendous that even his enemies would wonder why he has to go through such a painful experience in the hands of a government that he helped to midwife,” he said.
Momodu further highlighted El-Rufai’s political influence, claiming that the former governor played a significant role in President Bola Tinubu’s emergence in the 2023 presidential election.
“If not for him, I’m sure President Bola Tinubu would not be in office today,” Momodu said.
El-Rufai’s appointment places him in a senior position within Atiku’s campaign structure, where he is expected to handle high-level political coordination and stakeholder engagement.
The campaign council also includes former APC National Chairman John Oyegun, Momodu and former Kogi West Senator Dino Melaye, among other political figures and party stakeholders.
