₦airaland Forum

Once again, Nasir Elrufai has written from prison urging Nigerians to punish his incarcerators with their votes.

He has gone full throttle.

A Caged Lion is Still a Lion: Avenge El-Rufai’s Treatment With Your Votes — Refuse to Be Intimidated

Today marks two hundred and forty-six days since Mallam Nasir El-Rufai voluntarily surrendered himself to an investigation by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, and subsequently the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission, on February 18, 2026, a detention that has now stretched through nearly eight months of a man who committed no crime other than refusing to kneel. A lot of people, supporters and even enemies alike, have registered their frustration at a spectacle that has long ceased to resemble justice and has become something closer to a political hostage situation. The campaign is about to start, and the paper tigers know it, which is precisely why the cage has not been opened.

They thought the cage would silence him. They thought the chains would make the people forget. They were wrong. A caged lion is still a lion but more dangerous. The roar does not die because the mouth is behind bars. It echoes louder. It travels farther. It wakes up those who were sleeping. And in Kaduna, across the North, and through every corner of this country where people still believe that leadership is about service and not about swallowing the commonwealth, the people are waking up. They are watching. They are remembering. And they are angry.

Let us be clear. The detention of Nasir El-Rufai is no longer a legal matter. It has become a political circus, and the clowns are not even pretending anymore. A former senator allegedly stood in Zaria and begged the governor to keep El-Rufai locked up until after the 2027 election, until the governor receives his crown, and only then should the lion be released. Read that again. A public figure, in broad daylight, at a political gathering, openly linking the continued detention of a former governor to the electoral ambitions of the incumbent. This is not justice. This is not the rule of law. This is fear wearing the mask of legality. And the mask is slipping.

Who are these people demanding that El-Rufai remain caged? Their records speak louder than any label. They are the ones who have never won anything on their own. They are the political tourists who attach themselves to whoever holds the microphone and the purse then betray them and find another host to leech again. They could not win a ward councillorship without standing on another man’s structure. They have no history of political triumph in and of themselves. And now, terrified that the lion might walk out of the cage and remind the people of what real leadership looks like, they are begging for the detention to continue. Paper tigers. That is what they are. Paper tigers roaring at a lion behind bars because they know that if the bars were removed, they would scatter like leaves in a storm.

Their fear is understandable. El-Rufai’s greatest strength was never in the Government House. It was never in the ministerial chambers. It was never in the boardroom of the APC or the corridors of power. His greatest strength is the people. Not just in Kaduna, though Kaduna knows him best. Across Nigeria, there are people who remember a man who spoke truth to power when it was dangerous. Who stood against the naira redesign policy not because it hurt his party’s chances, but because he saw ordinary Nigerians suffering at the ATM queues, unable to buy food, unable to transport themselves to work. He said it plainly, without fear of the cabal in Aso Rock: the president made a mistake. How many of those now calling him a criminal had the courage to say that? Not one. They were too busy calculating how to position themselves for the next round of appointments.

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APC and Tinubu won’t know what hit them sha.

psalmsjob:
A man who called Peter Obi andrew liver salt in 2023 and that he can never be his VP and now 2026 he is the VP and you think such a man has integrity so much that people trust him?

You Peter Obi supporters have a way of arguing with yourself against yourselves. You people think everyone is as ignorant as you are or like an ostrich that buries it's head in the sand abd thinks since it can't see anyone then anyone cannot see it's big feathery buttocks

Una well done, this much as said about Pat Utomi before but where are all the people who worked for Peter Obi in 2023? So if Kwankwaso doesn't betray Peter Obi then Peter Obi will betray Kwankwaso but in any case the two of them are not going to aso rock because no vacancy in aso rock in 2027. Tinubu till 2031 by God's grace.

Do you want me to remind you of the names both Daniel Bwala and Reno Omokri have called Tinubu in the past?

Who are they supporting today?

Or need I remind you of the things Kenneth Okonkwo said about Atiku in the last election? Who does he support now?

Why don’t you have issues with those but with Kwankwaso?

AMINDA:
What would deception look like to you? If Obi manages to win Kano or gets just enough votes from the state, would it suffice for the Southeast to vote enmass for Kwankwaso in 2031 or they will demand more? Don't forget that Obi got more votes in ALL other Northern states than Kwankwaso except for Kano. Obi also got more votes in the North, overall, than Kwankwaso. A combination of Kwankwaso and Obi's votes in 2023 will still not surmount Tinubu's tally. How is that a winning alliance if all things remain equal?

But I thought you have always argued that Tinubu has lost the north, how come you are still making projections as if Tinubu still has his 5.6million northern votes?

Meanwhile, have you found any southern state that Atiku will win 5% of votes cast?


Because it’s now looking like Atiku is the one that has become a regional candidate.

helinues:
The moment Kwankwanso joined ADC, I said it that his mission was to lure Obi away from ADC so that Obi and Atiku won't be able to work together

infact, the 2023 election, Kwankwanso was on ballot to reduce Atiku's chance. Those votes he got, Atiku would have received 60% while other candidates will share the rest

Okay, but you have not answered the question…

So, what is he going to gain from working for Tinubu?

Are you telling me Tinubu has promised to make him APC candidate in 2031?

Would Kwankwaso choose that unguarenteed promise over a Vice Presidency and a clear path to presidency in 4 years?

Ojuntana:
You guys don't understand what has happened to Nigerian politics through the likes of Wike

That someone is running for a post on your platform does not mean he's supporting the candidate through and through

There are alliances and agreement across party lines now

Okay, so, how will the East vote for him if he deceives Peter Obi, their son?

This is one question those spreading the propaganda of Kwankwaso working for Tinubu needs to answer: What will Kwankwaso gain working for Tinubu?

First they said Kwankwaso cannot work with Obi.

Then when they came together they started with the propaganda that Kwankwaso, a PhD holder cannot deputize Obi; that Obi must have accepted to be Kwankwaso’s running mate.

Then it turned out that Kwankwaso actually accepted to be Obi’s running mate and the new propaganda is that Kwankwaso working for Tinubu.

Una no dey tire?

I want to ask a very serious question:

What will Kwankwaso gain from working for Tinubu?

Are you telling me that Kwankwaso will trust Tinubu to hand him APC ticket in 2031?

The same Tinubu that jailed the Elrufai that went above and beyond for him in 2023?

Or you mean to tell me that Kwankwaso will join APC after 2027 election? Will he not go down the pecking order since there are people like Nuhu Ribadu and co that eyeing the APC ticket already?

Are you telling me Kwankwaso will be willing to stake his credibility to deceive Peter Obi and NDC knowing that the world is watching and that would automatically make him a man that cannot be trusted when he says he stands for something?

Are you telling me that Kwankwaso would sacrifice being Vice President for 4 years before a possible 8 years presidency to work for Tinubu to what end? What would really be in it for him?

The truth is this, for 2031 to work for Kwankwaso, 2027 must work for Peter Obi.

So, don’t let ADC, Atiku and APC irredentists sell that stoopid propaganda to you that Kwankwaso is working for Tinubu.

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DEROX:
One thing u dont know is some politicians carry aura than the others, wike get aura no be small, even if you hate him, a slight joke and you will start laughing. Same thing with babangida that year in lagos where people planned to stone him, he juz came and was hugging boys, this one no be nzobu politics oga

If Wike has aura in your eyes then you don’t know what aura is.

Pastor Enenche is one of Obi’s biggest campaigners in Nigeria.

His brother, a retired general, is also an Obi supporter and would have served in Obi’s Campaign Council if not that Obidients opposed it then because EndSARS sentiments.

Wike will be wasting his time trying to curry the Enenches.

He should pray he doesn’t get booed by the congregation.

I pity Nigerians should Tinubu retain power; we will be taxed to death.

The reason they are denying this is because the elections are close and they want to curry votes.

Same way they got angry and attacked Umahi for disclosing that the Lagos-Calabar Fraud will no longer go through the coast after Ogun State.

Their grouse is why did Umahi make the announcement now. Why did he not wait until after the election before announcing that they have lied to Nigerians since 2023.

Even though sane brains like us are not shocked one bit because we have always known that the project is a Highway of Fraud, and have consistently announced that to the world but we kept getting attacked as enemies of Nigeria. See now, we’ve been vindicated.

I laugh at those who say Kwankwaso is working for Tinubu.

The question is, what does Kwankwaso stand to gain from supporting Tinubu?

motymop:
forget that propaganda...Actually Iran is winning the war

look at this....U.S. inflation for the year to September 2026 is 3.7% (up from 3.4% the previous month), driven largely by higher energy and petrol prices following Middle East supply disruptions

investors are worried that higher inflation will force the Federal Reserve to keep interest rates higher for longer, increasing borrowing costs for businesses and slowing economic growth

And what is Iran’s inflation rate?

Going by the speeches highlighted here:

1) Obasanjo

2) Murtala Mohammed

3) GEJ

Parachoko:
Nice one, Ozumba Mbadiwe is in a bad shape

The name should be changed to Obafemi Awolowo Road or Bola Ahmed Tinubu Road

Kee tribalism before it kees you.

Tufia!

oglalasioux:
I can imagine the loneliness and routine. It can be overwhelming. But for a poor Nigerian without connections and rich relatives to help you, finding yourself abroad with OP’s conditions and wishing to return to Nigeria is insane.

OP must have grown up in some comfort so I understand his predicament.

The exact same thing I thought.

You can come from nothing like some of us and then you get to UK where you are getting at all at all and you would wanna come back.

OP is a NEPO baby.

Peter Mbah was going to win reelection without stress just like Alex Otti but he ruined it by joining APC.

Enugu has never been APC and never wanted to be APC.

To add salt to injury, he killed an Enugu indigene because of Tinubu.

Now he has infuriated Ndi Enugu and might end up as one time governor.

I saw the arrangee video on X and Nigerians wan use swear kee Tinubu.

By now Tinubu and APC should have known that Nigerians won’t fall for this kind of gimmicks.

Transport that only reduced online.

I can’t wait to see Wike humiliated.

DoTheNeedful:
Olufade is an Atiku boy whose dislike for Tinubu is agelong. He disliked Buhari too.

Symfoni TV is a platform for pushing Atiku's presidency. They used to be the mouthpiece for the PDP before Wike hijacked the party.

Olufade would interrupt and counter you if you say anything positive about Tinubu. He also would interrupt and counter you if you say anything negative about Atiku.

This is a wrong depiction of the guy. He’s not anything like what you described here.

Sheuns:
He’s the one Yorubas call Omo po bi osan bo.

There’s nothing Omoluabi about him and his raving supporters.

I always refuse to believe that Tinubu and his supporters represent the true values of Omoluabi.

Because if he does represent the true Omoluabi values then there’s a problem.

The host of the popular Podcast, Symfoni, has come hard on Tinubu and his supporters especially those of Yoruba descent.

Real name Olawale Oluwade who himself is Yoruba, he insisted that Tinubu doesn’t not represent the Omoluabi values and his crude approach against opposition does not in any way represent master strategy as Tinubu’s supporters like to call it.

God bless him and those like him for not letting ethnicity blur their sense of judgment.

It is better to be told a Bitter Truth, than to be fed with Sweet Lies.

History will remember those Yorubas who put the collective interest of the country ahead of their tribal interest, ethnic interest, or political interest by saying undiluted truth to their kinsman in power.

It is better to be told a Bitter Truth, than to be fed with Sweet Lies.

History will remember those Yorubas who put the collective interest of the country ahead of their tribal interest, ethnic interest, or political interest by saying undiluted truth to their kinsman in power. pic.twitter.com/sAXEb2laoU

— PIDOMNIGERIA (@UNOFFICIALFACT) October 12, 2026

Nlfpmod
Mynd44
Fergie001

I can’t wait to see the tears of those rejoicing on Kwankwaso fake deal with Tinubu.

I keep wondering why anyone would think Kwankwaso would be working for Tinubu.

AMINDA:
Donald Duke is vindicated. Government of lies with no accountability nor transparency. The greatest sabotage to Tinubu's government was the fixation on concrete roads by Umahi. Apart from the slow pace of construction for the concrete technology that has left them with no single fully completed road after 4 years, the concrete roads has not proven to be more durable than a good asphalt technology as done by Julius Berger on Kano-Kaduna road. Umahi's concrete roads are already failing in several areas. This is besides it being more bumpy and less aesthetically pleasing. Just noise all over the place. No real substance.

I’ve always said it that the concrete road technology doesn’t just sit right with me.

It’s bumpy.

It’s not aesthetically pleasing.

And in most cases, have not really lived up to the durability claim.

I always prefer asphalt.

clarocuzioo:
I have never seen a Professor as confused as Umahi

Who made him a professor?

Parachoko:
Nah so Una don dey make mouth since Asiwaju won the election

You mean since Tinubu stole Peter Obi’s mandate?

helinues:
Stop talking nonsense all the time. I don't know why you are not interested in sounding normal anymore on this forum

I will only sound normal to you when I support Tinubu and I’m not interested in that kind of normal.

So, I will stay abnormal until Peter Obi is in Aso Rock.

nairalanda1:
And it's all down to the subsidy going....

I believe tinubu has lost the South east, largely because the South East's main industry, so to speak, is imports, and the sale of imported goods. Because the naira has been devalued, the amount of naira needed to buy forex has risen, which has made importing more expensive. Add the fuel subsidy removal making transport from the ports to the end point worse, and you have a lot of people suffering. Plus east relies heavily on food sent from the North...the grains, as well as imports, all now more costly thanks to dollars not being subsidised. As a result SE people are suffering massively .People would vote for Atiku and Obi.

Tinubu has also lost the North. Fuel should be reaching the N1500 mark by now, meaning that transport and so forth have gone up massively for many poor Northerners. Northern traders are having to deal with increased transport and other costs, ditto middle men. And the North is Nigeria's poorest region, so...there we are. Then the North has a raging insecurity problem, (it also affects the middle belt too, and the South). All that adds up to people voting for Atiku and Obi at the end of the day.

South West too is not safe, insecurity is a big problem, throw in high transport costs thanks to subsidy removal, and high costs of imports, and there you have it.

South South is going to be split between NDC and ADC.

The main thing is subsidy. In a way, with benefit of hindsight, tinubu and buhari should have supported susbdiy removal in 2012, by now the hard times from the removal would have dissipated, and assuming no changes in the leadership, there would have been enough in the reserves to pay for some limited subsides without borrowing. Instead, the best government can offer is a limited subsidy which would be paid for by borrowing.

In a way, tinubu is paying for supporting subsidy retention in 2012. He should have listened to the economists, not to the populists. But power hunger got him there (gej too should have been strong enough to remove subsidy, really tho).Had he listened to the economists, subsidy removal in 2012, would have meant that there would be no draining of the forex reserves to pay for subsidy on naira and on fuel.

Also, in 2015, APC had 15 million votes, in 2019, 19 million, 2023, 8 million. APC has been losing votes, not gaining.The signs are clear from that.

Subsidy is the issue in this election, and a good deed is going to get rewarded with removal. Funny enough, I doubt tht whoever takes over would bring back subsidy, but I do know that in 94 days time, Nigerians would vote out APC.

(I am ready to eat my words...but this is how it is going to be IMHO.)

Funny you could say that Southsouth is going to be split between NDC and ADC.

Which Southsouth state do you see ADC presence?

Southsouth is 90% NDC.

helinues:
Irrespective of who you support, if you are caught rigging the election, you will spend some years behind the bars

I like your sense of humor.

Just get ready to see all those supporting APC with you in jail because they have been assigned the polling units where they will carry ballot boxes.

Tinubu himself knows that he stands no chance without rigging.

And even you too know but you just can’t stop supporting nonsense.

Parachoko:
Nah only people from the East like Penguin2 go take him seriously

That’s the former chief spy officer of Nigeria. You will be deceiving yourself to think that he no longer has influence and information.

If he tells something will happen better take him very seriously.

Well, your paymasters know better.

No serious human being that has any serious business to attend to will go and stay in a long queue In NNPC filling stations just because of N60 difference.

However, I think if you go to MRS and speak Yoruba they will sell it cheaper to you.

The Minister of Works, David Umahi, has stated that the much hyped flagship project of the Tinubu project will no longer pass through the coastal area after Ogun State but will now been diverted to join the East-West Road from Edo state.

When we were telling them, they called us bitter. They finally accepted common sense.

Well, in hindsight, we have always known it would come to this.

In case you missed it, the Lagos-Calabar coastal road project would no longer go through the coast after Lagos and Ogun states. Instead, it would detour inland though Edo State to join the East-West Road. Mr Umahi calls this "a wonderful engineering decision by Mr President"

In case you missed it, the Lagos-Calabar coastal road project would no longer go through the coast after Lagos and Ogun states. Instead, it would detour inland though Edo State to join the East-West Road. Mr Umahi calls this "a wonderful engineering decision by Mr President" 🤣 pic.twitter.com/kmOEBOXfhm

— Abu Ameera (@najeebismail1) October 11, 2026

Nlfpmod
Mynd44
Fergie001