A former governor of Kaduna State, Nasir El-Rufai, has said he is pained about President Bola Tinubu’s failure because he and others supported his presidential bid despite knowing about his cocaine and certificate forgery scandals.


Mr El-Rufai, in an interview with the BBC Hausa, said he supported Mr Tinubu despite knowing his sordid past because he wanted him to replicate what he did in Lagos State as governor in Nigeria.

“What pains me is that the government we supported and had confidence in would do well, because we saw what Tinubu did in Lagos despite his challenges,” Mr El-Rufai said in the interview published on Saturday. 

Making reference to Mr Tinubu’s involvement in cocaine trafficking and certificate forgery, Mr El-Rufai said, “We all know about his issues in Chicago, but we thought if he could replicate his work in Lagos for Nigeria, let’s support him. However, he failed.”


Mr Tinubu’s involvement in drug trafficking scandal that saw him forfeited $460,000 to the U.S. government in 1993 re-emerged shortly after he declared interest to contest presidency in 2022. 

In 2022, the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois released fresh documents showing Mr Tinubu’s encounter with the U.S. authorities over allegations of narcotics trafficking and money laundering.

Similarly, Mr Tinubu’s Chicago State University certificate forgery scandal made the rounds as opposition candidate Atiku Abubakar, approached the court to compel CSU to release Mr Tinubu’s academic record.