Ribadu-El-Rufai: Before Today, There Was Yesterday, and There’ll Be Tomorrow
By Abdullahi O Haruna Haruspice
On November 26, 2011, Yasmin, the eldest daughter of Mallam Nasiru El-Rufai, passed away at the young age of 25 in her London apartment. Overwhelmed by sorrow and grief, Mallam Nuhu Ribadu, despite his own constricted emotions, displayed remarkable strength and loyalty. He travelled to London to bring home the fragile remains of Yasmin, the beloved daughter of his friend. It was a deeply moving moment—an exhibition of pure and undiluted friendship. From that day, my admiration for both men grew immensely.
Until Yasmin was finally laid to rest, Ribadu stood as the pillar of strength, personally coordinating the solemn rites of burial. In him, I saw the true embodiment of an old maxim: a friend in need is a friend indeed.
Tragically, these two once-loyal comrades—symbols of integrity who once shared a vision to fix the system—are now victims of the very system they sought to change. The bond that was once their greatest strength has become a painful memory of what politics has stolen from them.
Regardless of what tomorrow holds, Ribadu and El-Rufai, now bound by broken ties, will forever be haunted by what could have been avoided—if only reason had prevailed. In the coming days, buried memories, clandestine plots, and festering resentment will become their new reality. Sadly, this will unfold to the amusement of onlookers, detractors, and common enemies. For Mallam Nasiru and Ribadu, this is a bitter history laced with piercing pain.
It is a stark reminder that even the strongest bonds of friendship can be severed by the sharp blade of political differences and ideology. The pursuit of power and influence often demands a terrible price—the sacrifice of love and the cherished memories of yesterday. For these two estranged Northern allies, it is a tragedy that should never have happened
Their differences began when Ribadu was chosen as the ACN candidate, a decision that deeply upset El-Rufai, who felt sidelined. Out of frustration and what many see as envy, he joined Buhari in the CPC. In his account, he claimed Ribadu kept the decision from him.
Despite their rift, Ribadu extended support during difficult times—first when El-Rufai lost his daughter Yasmin, and later, about a year after, when his son tragically died in an Abuja auto crash—out of respect for their longstanding friendship and family ties.
While El-Rufai cannot be blamed for the events of 2015, he actively opposed Ribadu’s political aspirations in Adamawa during the 2019 and 2023 elections.Their falling out was both long and bitter.
The crack between Ribadu and El-Rufai continues in 2015 when Ribadu was sidelined and cast into political oblivion during the eight years of President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration despite being a card-carrying member of the APC. The pioneer EFCC czar even attempted to be the governor of Adamawa State on the platform of the party. He could not secure the ticket of the party let alone contest in the main election. El-Rufai, not just a governor but a key power broker in the ruling party, stood by as Ribadu suffered political isolation. He could not offer a helping hand to a friend who stood by him during his period of intense grief. The cold indifference from an old friend was a deep wound Ribadu never forgot.
Then, as fate would have it, the tables turned. With the emergence of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, Ribadu became not just an influential insider but the very nucleus and mitochondrion of the new administration, wielding enormous power. And like a twist of fate, Nasiru found himself on the outside, just as Ribadu had been before.
This fallout is now a stark mirror of how ambition and shifting alliances can turn close allies into adversaries—two men who once stood together now drawing daggers of attrition against each other.
El-rufai has openly declared war against Ribadu, his hitherto staunch ally, by teaming up with Naajatu Mohammed, who is overtly baying for the NSA’s blood. While Naajatu belongs to the opposition and can, therefore, be viewed from the prism of someone playing adversarial politics, what about El-rufai who has yet to renounce his membership of the APC and whose son is in the House of Representatives at the behest of the ruling party? Perhaps the former governor has forgotten that whoever lives in a glass house needs not be throwing stones from the inside to the inside. However , Mallam Nuhu Ribadu and Mallam Nasiru El-Rufai should remember that Before Today, There Was Yesterday, and There’ll Be Tomorrow.
Gaskiyally musing