Bashir El-Rufai Sparks Outrage with Controversial Comment on Southern Kaduna Killings
Bashir El-Rufai, son of former Kaduna State Governor Nasir El-Rufai, has ignited widespread outrage following a controversial statement on X (formerly Twitter), where he implied that killings in Southern Kaduna would persist if residents continued attacking Fulani herdsmen.
SaharaReporters observed that Bashir, known for his confrontational online persona, deleted the post after facing significant backlash.
His remark was in response to a tweet from user @qykali, who had criticized him for referring to President Bola Tinubu as “Pablo.” The critic also accused Bashir’s father of being a “Fulani irredentist” who oversaw “industrial-scale ethnic cleansing” in Southern Kaduna during his tenure as governor.
In his reply, Bashir wrote: “It is your stupid mother that is an elephant. And Southern Kaduna residents will keep seeing sheghe (trouble or suffering) if they continue to attack indigenous Fulani herdsmen. Oloshi.”
The use of the Hausa slang word sheghe (or shege), which conveys suffering or severe consequences, has drawn heavy criticism. Many have accused Bashir of justifying violence against Southern Kaduna communities, who have long suffered deadly attacks by suspected herdsmen.
Beyond this controversy, Bashir recently fueled speculation about political realignments ahead of the 2027 elections. Responding to an X user who claimed the Social Democratic Party (SDP) would struggle to defeat the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) without Labour Party’s 2023 presidential candidate, Peter Obi, Bashir cryptically responded: “He is coming.”
His remark has intensified discussions about a possible alliance between Obi and the SDP, especially following his father’s recent departure from the APC.
Nasir El-Rufai, a major figure in the APC’s rise to power in 2015, recently resigned from the party, expressing disillusionment with its leadership under President Tinubu. In a resignation letter dated March 10, 2025, El-Rufai accused the APC of straying from its founding progressive ideals, describing the party’s current leadership as “directionless.”
“The developments in the last two years confirm that those who currently control and run the APC have no desire to acknowledge, let alone address, the party’s unhealthy state,” he wrote.
El-Rufai’s exit is seen as part of a broader wave of defections from the APC, with prominent figures like former Osun State Governor Rauf Aregbesola and ex-Ekiti State Governor Kayode Fayemi rumored to be considering a switch to the SDP.