: ABUJA – Former Kaduna State Governor Nasir El-Rufai has forcefully dismissed viral reports that he has endorsed a specific region to produce Nigeria’s next president in 2027, describing the claims as “fake news” and an example of “the unedifying Olympics of fiction and fakery.”
The prominent opposition figure, now a chieftain of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), issued a denial on Monday via his official social media channels, stating that the trending claim is “untrue, despite its virality”.
“My attention has been drawn to a trending fake news item alleging that I specified which region of the country should produce the president in 2027,” El-Rufai stated. “I did not make such a statement in any of my speeches, interviews, or social media posts”
The Content of the False Claims
The reports El-Rufai refuted specifically alleged two things:
1. That he stated it was “the turn of the South to produce the president in 2027.
2. That this position suggested he might be backing the 2023 Labour Party candidate, Peter Obi, over former Vice President Atiku Abubakar in î.
A Broader Warning on Media Integrity
In his lengthy statement, El-Rufai used the incident to criticize what he sees as a decline in media standards, accusing some senior editors of ignoring their duty to verify information.
“Society stands to lose when media leaders align with the most irresponsible actors on social media,”he warned, urging professionals and the public to verify information before sharing it.
He also clarified that sharing opinion articles written by others on his social media pages does not mean he endorses every view within them, calling it “wrong and improper” to attribute such articles to him.
Context of Political Maneuvering
This denial comes amidst intense political maneuvering within the ADC, which has emerged as a potential coalition platform for major opposition figures ahead of the 2027 elections. The party currently hosts declared presidential aspirants from both the North and South, including Atiku Abubakar, Peter Obi, and Rotimi Amaechi.
El-Rufai’s statement is an attempt to distance himself from the sensitive and divisive internal debate over which region—North or South—should produce the coalition’s presidential candidate,a debate that analysts say is dulling the opposition’s edge
