'El-Rufai is a hypocrite and dubious,' Senator faults memo to Buhari

Sani, who is the Vice-Chairman, Senate Committee on Foreign Affairs, urged the All Progressives Congress (APC), to punish El-Rufai for the action.

In a statement, he released in Abuja on Saturday, March 18, the Kaduna Senator said it is ironic that El-Rufai, who he said cannot stand constructive criticism, has the audacity to criticise the President.

In the memo, which went viral last Thursday, El-Rufai was quoted as saying that Buhari is losing the vision and the momentum with which APC started the change campaign.

He also urged the President to communicate constantly with Nigerians, so they will know the plans of his government.

The Governor also buttressed the claims that a cabal is working hard to isolate the President from those, who tirelessly worked to secure his victory during the 2015 election.

Sani said: "The governor always recommends that our party should punish me for criticising him.

"Now that he has fired a cruise missile at the President through a deliberately leaked memo, he should also be treated the same way.

"He accused me of being disloyal and disrespectful to the President and the party for speaking my mind.

"Now he has done his own cunningly by criticising the President and the party, disguised it as a memo and leaked it out to the press.

"If our able party chair would give me five strokes of the cane for speaking out, the governor (El Rufai) should be given thrice that for 'leaking out.'

"It’s often said that look at the message and not the messenger, but there are times when you can only decipher the message by looking at the messenger."

The Senator stressed that though El-Rufai is entitled to his opinion and perception, the contradiction and irony is that he carried out an action he always stood against when criticised.

He added: "The difference is that while mine is blunt, his is dubious.

"Secondly, for all the issues he raised against the President, his own is worst in his space of governance both in the existence of cabal or politics of exclusion, incompetence or public perception.

"The difference is that the President is tolerant of criticisms and alternative views."

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Sani said by leaking the memo, Elrufai is trying "to rouse popular sympathy and create the image of ‘a competent alternative’ to 'Baba.'"

"The memo suggests he is trying to do what he recently accused me of.

"He said that I am in the habit of criticising him because I want to become Kaduna State Governor," Sani said.

He advised Buhari tread with caution, saying "he who keeps a scorpion in his pocket must always watch his groin and he who inherits a cobra should know that it’s not a pet."