Mohammed Bello El-Rufai, son of former Kaduna State governor Nasir El-Rufai, has openly endorsed President Bola Tinubu for a second term in 2027—despite his father’s recent defection from the All Progressives Congress (APC) to the Social Democratic Party (SDP).
Bello, who represents Kaduna North in the House of Representatives, made his stance clear at the APC National Summit in Abuja, where Tinubu was officially endorsed as the party’s sole presidential candidate for the upcoming election.
His endorsement of Tinubu stands in contrast to his father’s political shift. In March 2025, Nasir El-Rufai exited the APC, citing a loss of alignment with the party’s core principles.
He subsequently joined the SDP, pledging to rally opposition forces to unseat the APC in 2027.
The younger El-Rufai’s decision has sparked mixed reactions online. Political commentator and activist Reno Omokri took a swipe at the elder El-Rufai, quipping:
“If El-Rufai can’t convince his son to leave Tinubu, how will he convince Nigerians?”
The divide within the El-Rufai family isn’t new. In 2024, another of El-Rufai’s sons, Bashir El-Rufai, launched a social media attack on both President Tinubu and Kaduna State Governor Uba Sani, declaring they would lose the next election.
Bashir also decried what he described as politically motivated investigations into his father over the alleged mismanagement of ₦423 billion during his time as governor.
He tweeted:
“Nobody is too big to be ‘elected out of office’ by the people. It will happen & wallahi nothing will happen. So forget all these intimidations flying up and down. Let us be patient.”
