The widespread belief that Nasir El-Rufai is a “perpetual schemer,” which is a complete fabrication, was fervently spread by several Nigerian media outlets and regrettably taken in by numerous Nigerian citizens. Repeated lies frequently come to pass as fact. Fortunately, such false impression has been thoroughly refuted. There was a rumor before to the All Progressives Congress (APC) presidential primaries that Nasir El-Rufai aspired to be president. The selling of presidential forms gave it new life, but he greatly disappointed them as usual. El-Rufai crushed the ambition for the greater good of Nigerian unity, even though he is ideally qualified for the position. From the Nigerian Bar Association’s (NBA) sponsored disinvite to the coordinated exaggerations of the security threats facing Kaduna state, El-Rufai’s opponents have politically choreographed attacks on him with the goal of demonizing him and undermining what they saw to be a clear presidential ambition.

Hopefully, the media attacks, which are mostly being driven by the 2023 presidential elections, will subside for the time being until after the general election, when competition for attention will pick up steam. Not even his unwavering and moral support for the transfer of power to the South in 2019 following eight years of Muhammadu Buhari’s administration altered the perception of El-Rufai. The only thing that has cleared him of the lies is time, the devoted companion of the innocent. El-Rufai’s opponents, the most of whom had over the years decided to believe the worst about him, were undoubtedly confused by his unwavering support for power transition, his refusal to run for office, and his firm stance on the 2023 election alterations. Alas, poor victims of a long-running campaign of mischief by dishonest rivals who, sadly, lack morality. El-Rufai is a very moral person. He is a man of integrity and strong convictions, traits that were shockingly demonstrated once more when he angrily rejected the approach to enter the presidential contest made by the Villa forces (generals without troops) without hesitation. El-Rufai flatly turned down the “opportunity,” but some renegades would have grabbed hold of it with both hands, as if they were standing on a “platter of gold.”

The same “Villa forces” that persuaded Senate President Ahmed Lawan to enter the presidential contest persisted in pressuring El-Rufai to do the same until Saturday, June 4, 2022. For once, the Villa forces—who are infamous for their lack of strategic acumen—were correct when they concluded that El-Rufai was a more formidable contender than Lawan. Was it conceited ambition that led Lawan to accept the offer so quickly, exposing him to political scorn? It is well known in the North that the “Villa forces” are extremely unpopular and incapable of winning even one councilor. .. There’s no doubt that Lawan’s misadventure will be an intriguing research topic. Did he know that El-Rufai was being courted to enter the contest as well? Why was Lawan unable to withstand the pressure like El-Rufai did, given that he had given Bola Tinubu repeated assurances of the Senate’s support? El-Rufai eventually went to Dubai, United Arab Emirates, to evade the constant pressure till the screening process was over. Even though Kashim Shettima was obliged to apologise to the Senate President, the multiple political missteps of Lawan demonstrated a disturbing lack of capacity by a man that sought to run a country like Nigeria. Lawan had unintentionally caused the Senate to rule that National Assembly members could not participate in the primaries as statutory delegates. His entry into the race with no advantage but multiple disadvantages was the cherry on top of his juvenile mistakes.

Even if the Villa forces realized after the fact that Lawan was a weak candidate, they nevertheless relied on Buhari and had him face the governors, who were the delegates’ ultimate “controllers.” But the president, a man of great character, declined. For the mostly Daura provincial crowd, the lack of an enforcer was even more concerning. The Daura population is a lion’s den behind closed doors, yet because of their immoral schemes, they are bashful in public. The governors have become the primary actors in politics since 1999, and there are no signs that they are willing to give up their advantage to control policy. Therefore, the Villa soldiers’ antics served to further unite the governors rather than to undermine them. Life is an experiment. Furthermore, El-Rufai has clearly passed the litmus test with flying colors. It requires principles—a rare commodity in our country—to resist giving in to the temptation of power. The demise of El-Rufai would have been tragic.

El-Rufai has also demonstrated that the interests of society as a whole take precedence over individual goals in life. It is encouraging that El-Rufai resisted the Greek gift for the benefit of Nigeria, even though Chinua Achebe saw El-Rufai’s ability to lead with purpose as the primary obstacle to Nigeria’s development. The “pressure” is clearly a sign of confidence and recognition of El-Rufai’s ability to do so.

El-Rufai saved Nigeria, particularly between March and June 2022, by assisting in the stabilization of the political system. He has acted forcefully each time Nigeria’s unity has been under jeopardy since 2015. Without considering the effects of their actions on the precarious unity of the nation, El-Rufai rallied his colleagues and other stakeholders to thwart the agenda aimed at maintaining power in the North when it appeared that the APC was about to collapse as a result of its inability to hold its National Convention. Even though El-Rufai was publicly chastised for his sincere attempts and was essentially thrown under the bus, without him, the APC would not have existed as a platform for the candidates that have emerged to actualize their goals. Only Rotimi Akeredolu, the governor of Ondo State, stood up in strong defense of El-Rufai, despite the fact that he had been ordered by the APC governors to convey the party’s position to Nigerians.

Every Nigerian who loves peace can never fully express the immediate satisfaction that the northern governors’ decision, which confirmed their unwavering loyalty to El-Rufai’s hard-won move of the presidency to the South, conveyed. The largely Christian South was preparing a storm of agitations, which the APC governors put down. This would have inevitably resulted in a counterattack by the predominantly Muslim North. For the majority of people in the south, Atiku Abubakar’s choice of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) ticket was sufficient evidence of a conspiracy of dominance and justification for the dissolution of the nation. They were refused permission to strike the matches by the governors. Even if the Igbo are still furious that they are no longer important in the grand scheme of things, their resistance is nothing compared to what the Yoruba would have done if the North had defeated them. Without a question, the North is more politically adept than the South, with a proven propensity to close ranks and create a consensus, but the fundamental message by the northern governors is a knowledge of the threat to the future existence of the country, had it gone for it. Additionally, they presented a powerful argument about how Northerners are people of ideals and that their word will always be their loyalty.

Finally, unless there is an elite consensus, Nigeria will continue to flounder to our collective humiliation while the basic causes that have kept it down go unresolved. According to Martin Luther King Jr., the “ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy.” El-Rufai has proven to be a man true to his values and a man of his word.