Bwari, Abuja - The immediate past governor of Kaduna State, Nasir El-Rufai and a chieftain of the Social Democratic Party (SDP), Nasir El-Rufai, has criticised Nigerian leaders after former President Olusegun Obasanjo's government to sustain the national progress that was achieved when the latter left office in 2007.

El-Rufai, who spoke at the 2025 Law Week of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Bwari Branch, challenged the legal professionals to step up their game in maintaining their positions as reformers in the face of national turbulence.

According to News Central TV, the former governor maintained that Nigeria is at a critical inflexion at the moment in its history, contrary to the opportunity it had when Obasanjo left office in 2007, adding that Obasanjo's successors, who he said were handpicked by the former president, "squandered" the opportunity.

He added that in his opinion, the last time Nigeria had the opportunity to prosper was in 2007, when the country was largely free of foreign debt and had over $40bn as net (not gross) foreign reserves. He added that Nigeria also had nearly $30bn in the Excess Crude Account.

His comment further reads:

“Tragically, Obasanjo’s hand-picked successors were unable to manage what was bequeathed to them, and it has been mostly downhill since then.”

Speaking on the keynote titled “Lawyers as Agents of Change: Navigating Economic Reforms, Judicial Policy and Contemporary Issues,” the former governor challenged lawyers challenged the legal practitioners to rise to their role as the "custodians of conscience" and address any systemic failures in the country, particularly in the judiciary.

The former governor lamented that the gap between law and justice in Nigeria appeared to be wide, and that justice is dying, while it appeared like the law that was being administered appeared to be the wishes of the executive.

Recall that El-Rufai, who recently dumped the All Progressives Congress (APC) for the SDP, has been a major critic of President Bola Tinubu's administration and championed the call for a coalition by other opposition leaders to sack the president in the 2027 presidential election.

A clip of El-Rufai's address was shared:

Legit.ng earlier reported that Nasir El-Rufai, the former Kaduna state governor, has said he has yet to discuss his 2027 presidential ambitions with anyone.

The former governor stated this in an interview while speaking on the possibility of taking on President Bola Tinubu in 2027.

El-Rufai recently criticised President Tinubu's administration and the APC after engaging with several opposition leaders.

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Proofreading by James Ojo, copy editor at Legit.ng.

Source: Legit.ng