El-Rufai Shares 5 Reasons Why Opposition Governors Are Defecting To APC — No. 4 Will Surprise You

In a satirical yet revealing commentary, former Kaduna State Governor Nasir El-Rufai (as portrayed in this fictional piece) posted the real reasons many opposition governors are rushing to join President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s APC, dubbing it the “Renewed Hope Movement.” Below are the five major reasons he humorously — yet pointedly — shared on his X account @elrufai.  The piece is originally written by by Cham Faliya Sharon

1. Protection from Prosecution

Many politicians are drawn to Tinubu’s APC because of the “immunity” it appears to offer against corruption probes.
According to the piece, Tinubu’s embrace of former Delta State governor Ifeanyi Okowa, despite allegations of massive looting, sent a clear message: “Join us, and your EFCC troubles vanish.”
El-Rufai’s mock statement suggests that this “open-arm policy” has rekindled hope among many who fear accountability, giving them confidence to “do as they wish and get protection.”

2. Return of the Old Order

Defectors believe the good old days of unchecked power are back.
In the APC of today, El-Rufai quips, governors can “award inflated contracts to their families, silence the State Assembly with bribes, and no one will dare question them.”
The alleged handling of projects like the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway, he adds, has become a model of how to “Renew Hope” while enriching oneself.

3. Lies as Political Strategy

El-Rufai jokingly admits that the ruling class has mastered the art of repackaging suffering as reform.
Politicians, he says, now tell their voters that the ongoing hardship is a “necessary surgery” that will make them wealthy later — even though, in reality, only the elites benefit.
“We will keep appealing to the people to have hope,” he says, “while securing our families’ future with their money.”

4. Manipulating Religion and Tradition

Here’s the shocker — the fourth reason that will surprise you.
To sustain the corrupt system, politicians allegedly use pastors, imams, and traditional rulers on their payrolls to preach submission and patience to the masses.
These leaders are tasked with convincing Nigerians that revolts like those in Sri Lanka, Madagascar, and Niger Republic are ungodly.
In essence, citizens must endure hardship “to prove their faith in God,” while leaders’ luxury is seen as “a divine reward for their righteousness.”

5. Fear of Mass Revolt

Finally, El-Rufai points to a growing fear among governors — the fear of a people’s uprising.
He recalls how leaders in Sri Lanka, Nepal, and Madagascar fled by helicopter as angry citizens stormed their palaces.
To prevent a similar fate, Nigerian politicians are uniting under APC’s banner for self-preservation, using religion and propaganda to keep the masses docile.

Below is the original write up as written by Cham Faliya Sharo | October 19, 2025

OPPOSITION GOVERNORS: “THE TRUTH ON WHY WE ARE DEFECTING TO TINUBU’S BRAND OF THE APC” – By Cham Faliya Sharon

FIRSTLY, we are inspired by Tinubu on how he embraced our former colleague, Dr. Ifeanyi Okowa, who was governor of Delta State for eight years, during which he stole up to 1.3 trillion Naira like we are all doing now in our own states, and subsequently silenced his case at the EFCC over that very theft. We feel greatly inspired and hopeful that we can now do as we wish and get the protection we need. As such, we are ready to join Tinubu to fight the Nigerian people with all their resources at our disposal for the sustenance of this system, which is very profitable for us!

SECONDLY, because we came from an old political philosophy of gathering everything for oneself while sustaining the rest of the society with trickles of salaries for handfuls of workers, our Hope became Renewed that the old system is back when we saw that you can shun the State Assembly or any organ of due process and fraudulently award huge contracts to your own family at overinflated prices and nothing will happen! Can’t you people see the Lagos – Calabar Coastal Highway project? All we need to do is to bribe our Assembly men and women with huge cuts from the dubious contracts, and everyone with powers to question us will just become silent! This has seriously Renewed our Hope in the old order!

THIRDLY, even though we recognize that this system of kleptomania and oligarchical democracy pays people like us very well, we will keep appealing to our voters and supporters to have hope in this Renewed Hope philosophy; we will keep begging them to accept our brazen lies that the reforms being done now are necessary surgeries that will make them become rich and wealthy in the future while, in actual fact, it is we the ruling class that are strengthening the future of our own families to continue to preside over the mass poverty we are creating!

FOURTHLY, to sustain our destructive old order, which has been renewed in this Renewed Hope fiction, we will use our partners who are Pastors, Imams, traditional rulers, and other opinion leaders who are in our pockets to continue to warn Nigerians not to be tempted to practice what happened in Sri Lanka, Madagascar, Peru, Guinea, Mali, Niger Republic, Nepal, Bangladesh, Morocco, and Philippines recently. We will urge them to make Nigerians not to see any joy in wishing to see us – their leaders – escaping over the walls of the palatable offices and houses that we have built with monies we stole from them!

FIFTHLY, all of us were shaken and terrified recently when we saw how our colleagues in Sri Lanka, Nepal, Bangladesh, and Madagascar were jumping over walls and being rescued by clutching onto helicopter ropes to escape the seething rage of the masses who invaded their homes and offices. We will urge Nigeria’s religious leaders who are in our pockets to tell Nigerian masses that this kind of action of chasing, pursuing, and destroying corrupt leaders is a sin! The people need to understand and accept that hardship is meant to build their faith in God, while luxury for the ruling class and their families is proof of their own faith in God, and that’s why we joined the Renewed Hope!

Credit @chamsharon