Bashir El-Rufai, son of detained former Kaduna governor Nasir El-Rufai, launched a series of scathing posts on X on Saturday, August 29, targeting his own brother Bello El-Rufai. The posts, which included expletives and accusations of political opportunism, exposed a deepening rift within the El-Rufai family while their father remains in custody facing fraud charges.
Brotherly Accusations and Political Allegiance
The outburst centered on Bello's political decisions over recent months. Bello, who represents the Kaduna North federal constituency, had remained with the All Progressives Congress (APC) even after their father quit the party in March 2025. He only defected to the African Democratic Congress (ADC) on May 7, 2026, joining Nasir El-Rufai in his new political home.
Bashir alleged that Bello stayed close to Kaduna Governor Uba Sani only as long as it served his personal interests, and only began invoking family loyalty once he sensed Sani was sidelining him. "Stuck with Uba Sani until he realized he is being dumped then suddenly remembered family loyalty and moved to ADC. Where was he since? Purely serving his interest," Bashir wrote in one of the posts.
Accusations of Hypocrisy and Silence
Bashir also claimed Bello had remained silent while others openly criticized Governor Sani, and that Bello had pressured him to tone down his own public criticism of the governor. Calling his brother a hypocrite, Bashir wrote: "At this stage in my life, I hate nonsense." Some posts were later deleted, but those that remained included unsubstantiated allegations touching on fertility and drug use.
Uba Sani, the current Kaduna governor, was once a close political ally of Nasir El-Rufai before the two fell out following Sani's victory in the 2023 governorship election.
Family Under Pressure as Father Remains Detained
The public sibling dispute comes while Nasir El-Rufai remains in detention, held since February 2026 over alleged financial misconduct during his tenure as Kaduna governor between 2015 and 2023. On April 13, 2026, the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) brought him before the Kaduna High Court on an amended nine-count charge of alleged fraud and abuse of office. Separately, the Department of State Services (DSS) is prosecuting him at the Federal High Court in Abuja on allegations of wiretapping.
In a related development, Legit.ng earlier reported that ICPC operatives arrested Professor Bello Abubakar, El-Rufai's personal doctor. Abubakar was arrested for allegedly misleading the ICPC to believe that El-Rufai was being attended to at the National Hospital in Abuja. However, it was discovered that El-Rufai was holding a meeting with Kaduna ADC governorship candidate Isa Ashiru Kudan.
