El-Rufai: Hard times exposed my relationships
Former Kaduna State Governor Nasir El-Rufai has said he bears no resentment towards friends, former colleagues and family members who have remained silent during his current difficulties.
El-Rufai said the experience had, however, given him cause to reconsider some of his relationships, stressing that he would not allow the actions of others to alter the principles that had guided his life.
*El-Rufai
Abimbola Joseph
Former Kaduna State Governor Nasir El-Rufai has said he bears no resentment towards friends, former colleagues and family members who have remained silent during his current difficulties.
El-Rufai said the experience had, however, given him cause to reconsider some of his relationships, stressing that he would not allow the actions of others to alter the principles that had guided his life.
The former governor spoke in a statement titled “My Relationships and the Aftermath”, dated 23 September and published on his X account.
He said some people had expressed concern about the silence of individuals he had supported or publicly associated with in the past.
According to him, his support for people and causes over the years was based on his Islamic faith, Arewa upbringing, personal values and conscience, rather than an expectation of gratitude or reciprocity.
“I have stood by people and for causes I believed in, sometimes in difficult circumstances and at considerable personal cost,” he said.
El-Rufai added that those he had supported were free to decide how to respond to his present circumstances.
He said some could speak out, remain silent, distance themselves from him or even deny their previous relationships, adding that he did not intend to judge them for their choices.
“Their reasons are their own, and I do not wish to judge them merely because their response differs from what others, or even I, might have expected,” he said.
The former governor said the difficult period had also changed the way he viewed some relationships.
“Adversity has a way of illuminating relationships,” he said, adding that his experiences in recent months might lead him to reconsider “the nature of certain relationships”.
He stressed, however, that such reflection should not be interpreted as condemnation.
“That is neither reproach nor condemnation; it is simply part of seeing people, and life, more clearly,” he said.
El-Rufai said he had no regrets about supporting people or causes whenever he believed it was the right thing to do.
He said he would rather remain faithful to his principles than allow the conduct of others to determine his own.
“I bear no resentment towards anyone who chooses not to do the same for me,” he said.
The former governor also said he would not seek revenge over what he described as any injustice, ingratitude or injury done to him.
“Ultimate accountability belongs to Almighty Allah, and I leave that judgment to Him, in this world and in the Hereafter,” he said.
El-Rufai concluded that people would ultimately have to live with the choices they made, while posterity would judge their actions.
He said his priority was to remain at peace with his conscience and with Almighty Allah.
The statement comes amid ongoing legal proceedings involving the former governor. El-Rufai has pleaded not guilty to charges brought against him and has continued to challenge the allegations in court.
