They will tell you that in politics there are no permanent friends but permanent interests, and I will tell you that is bullshit.
It is just a convenient excuse to justify lack of character, fluidity, and brinksmanship.
There is no such thing as permanent interest in any part of human endeavour.
What should be permanent are the personal ethos we bring to bear in politics and in its relationships.
As interests shift, our firm ethos stands as guard rails to hold us firm as we engage.
So ethos like truth, justice, fair play, objectivity, and principled leadership cannot be eschewed on the altar of moving interests.
A Democrat in the US will most likely vote one way in a vote on abortion, and a Republican would do the same.
It is only in a warped system like ours where you see someone in PDP fighting to be party leader in APC,
Where governors, no matter the divide, decamp to another party irrespective of ideology or personal convictions.
This lack of conviction is now playing very aggressively in this case of Citizen Nasir El‑Rufai.
Olusegun Obasanjo, in one of his many books, had labeled Citizen El-Rufai a liar, amongst other things.
He had painted him as one not to be trusted and one who would say or do anything to achieve a selfish purpose.
He also alluded that Citizen El-Rufai could not be trusted and that his loyalty was to his stomach.
But in the last few years, Citizen El-Rufai has more than shown that this “reductionist” type of characterisation was deeply flawed.
His positions and postulations on national issues have remained very predictably anti-establishment.
He had remained rabidly loyal to whatever it is that tied him to late President Muhammadu Buhari.
With what we have seen with him has been a permanence on personal ethos amidst shifting interests.
From an avid loyalty to Buhari, he shifted to Bola Ahmed Tinubu when his camp decided to move towards Tinubu, and now he has moved to Atiku Abubakar, still maintaining that strong tie to his personal convictions.
We all remember how he took a serving Central Bank of Nigeria Governor of his ruling party to challenge the no-cash policy which had made the ambition of Tinubu almost impossible.
The same way he is fighting Tinubu now was the same way he fought Emefiele and fought for Tinubu because of his abiding personal convictions amidst shifting interests.
Today, all those who didn’t have the courage to stand by Tinubu are now hounding Citizen El-Rufai, whose courage, I believe, now stood against him in being rewarded when the battle was won.
Unlike the rest of his mates who have all bowed to selfish ambitions by running to pick brooms, he has stood apart to work in the opposition.
Joining ADC by El-Rufai is not the same as Atiku in ADC or Peter Obi in ADC.
He could have sold his conscience for more than a morsel like his colleagues, and they would have willingly compensated him and taken him in.
But instead, he joined the opposition to build a structure that is far from formidable to fight what in his mind is the greatest scourge of our time.
Today, he is in detention and under investigation for things they have alleged he did while in office.
He knew they were coming, and he still flew back into their arms.
This is what true leaders are made of, and what we should all learn from this is that interests shift, but personal conviction and approach to shifting interests must remain sacrosanct.
I wish Citizen El-Rufai well. He is shaping up to be what a true Nigerian leader should be.
Come and beat me.
Thanks
Duke of Shomolu
Last modified: February 17, 2026
