10 Missiles Kaduna Gov fired at President

The tone of the memo was classic El-Rufai--blunt, ruthless and not holding back a thing.

We present 10 shots that caught the eye from that 30-page memo:

1. El-Rufai calls Buhari a failure

Everyone (well, almost everyone) now concedes that the Buhari administration hasn't lived up to pre-election billing.

El-Rufai is a 'Buharist' to the core and he too hasn't been impressed.

ALSO READ: Kaduna Governor slams Buhari in leaked memo

Below are his words:

“In very blunt terms, Mr. President, our APC administration has not only failed to manage expectations of a populace that expected overnight ‘change’ but has failed to deliver on even mundane matters of governance outside of our successes in fighting BH insurgency and corruption.

“Overall, the feeling even among our supporters today is that the APC government is not doing well".

Oh well....

2. El-Rufai calls members of the President's kitchen cabinet 'clueless'

Look away now, Chief of Staff Abba Kyari and Secretary to the Government of the Federation Babachir Lawal, because El-Rufai doesn't like you both.

“The two officials whose titles may enable them function as such generally alienate those that contributed to our success.

“The Chief of Staff is totally clueless about the APC and its internal politics at best as he was neither part of its formation nor a participant in the primaries, campaign, and elections.

“In summary, neither of them has the personality, experience, and the reach to manage your politics nationally or even regionally".

Wow!

El-Rufai is not alone here.

Recall that even the President's wife, Aisha, had thrown shades at these two before she was asked to go to the 'other room'.

There's also plenty of commentary from political pundits and news sites on how allegedly corrupt Lawal and Kyari are.

3. Buhari is not a good politician, El-Rufai says

If you ever felt Buhari's political game is crap or piss poor, you have an ally in El-Rufai.

Here's the Kaduna Governor to drive home the point:

"This situation is compounded by the fact that some officials around you seem to believe and may have persuaded you that current APC State Governors must have no say and must also be totally excluded from political consultations, key appointments and decision-making at the federal level.

“These politically-naive ‘advisers’ fail to realize that it is the current and former State Governors that may, as members of NEC of the APC, serve as an alternative locus of power to check the excesses of the currently lopsided and perhaps ambivalent NWC."

One other point to draw from this: Buhari hired horrible advisers, according to El-Rufai.

4. El-Rufai says there's a cabal in the Buhari Presidency

For months now, Pulse and other news sites have written tons of articles on the heinous activities of a cabal acting with plenty of impunity within the Buhari Presidency.

ALSO READ:

El-Rufai also mentioned the activities of this cabal.

Again, look away now, Kyari, Lawal, Mamman Daura etc.

“Mr. President, there is a perception that our government has been captured by a shadowy public service/PDP cabal such that we have won elections but the country is still run largely by these elements that are hostile to you and to us all.

"Mr. President, there is an emerging view in the media that you are neither leading the party nor the administration and those neither elected nor accountable appear to be in charge, and therefore the country is adrift.”

5. Buhari is sectional

There was a time when all you needed to know how clannish Buhari was, was to look up his list of appointees.

El-Rufai serves the dish ice cold here:

“There is a strong perception that your inner circle or kitchen cabinet is incapable, unproductive and sectional. The quality and the undue concentration of key appointments to the North-East and exclusion of South-East are mentioned as evidence of this".

6. Ministers have no access to Buhari

The Buhari cabinet is certainly not working and it may just be because some of the Ministers have no access to Baba.

Not our words, El-Rufai's.

"There is a perception that your Ministers, some of whom are competent and willing to make real contributions, have no clear mandate, instructions and access to you. Ministers are constitutional creations Mr. President and it is an aberration that they are expected to report to the Chief of Staff on policy matters".

Hear, hear...the Ministers are grumbling because they've been forced to run all ideas, policy proposals through Kyari.

7. Buhari isn't communicating enough

The last presidential media chat was two years ago.

The Presidency hasn't deemed it necessary to put together another.

So, the Nigerian people have been reduced to banal press statements from Femi Adesina and Garba Shehu; or clips of the President addressing the media abroad.

This worries El-Rufai as much as it worries you.

“The President must communicate actively and directly with the Nigerian public about his vision – the government’s plans, strategy and roadmap to take the country out of the current, dire economic situation.We need a five-year national development strategy and plan, urgently.

“The President should speak to the nation – something akin to a State of the Union address on December 1 or January 1. Preferably in a joint session of the National Assembly during which he will explain away some of the perceptions and lay out the national plans, strategies, and roadmap".

8. The Buhari administration is adrift

"I am distressed that our government is seen not to be succeeding mostly due to the failures, lack of focus and selfishness of some you have entrusted to carry on and implement your vision. I am troubled that our own missteps have made the PDP and its apparatchiks so audacious and confident,” El-Rufai said.

He added that: “We were elected precisely because Nigerians knew that the previous administration was mismanaging resources and engaged in unprecedented waste and corruption".

9. Buhari needs a high profile economic adviser

Certainly, managing a faltering economy isn't Buhari's strong suit.

Olusegun Obasanjo has told us this before.

El Rufai wants Buhari to appoint a “high profile” economic adviser.

El-Rufai also wants the President to set up a two-level economic team – one at a political level to be chaired by the Vice President, and another at a technical level consisting of the heads of key economic agencies “to do the more detailed technical analysis and present options for decision and action”.

10. The President is passing up a golden opportunity

In El-Rufai's words, “You have both a crisis and opportunity in your hands to turn around our country in the right direction. We pray that Allah gives you the strength and good fortune to succeed. This is an honest, frank and objective view of an admirer, a mentee, and a loyalist. I hope it helps, and I apologize if it displeases you. My duty to you is to tell you the truth as I see it. I have no interest other than the progress of our party, our president, our government, and our country.”

That was the definition of a take-down--a frank, brutal one.

Shots were certainly fired!!!

El-Rufai is however out of the country. The Kaduna Governor is undertaking a PhD course abroad.