“I Was Naive to Have Criticised Jonathan” — Bello El-Rufai Makes Shocking U-Turn, Says He Begged His Father to Apologise on His Behalf

In a political twist that has stunned Nigerians nationwide, Bello El-Rufai — son of former Kaduna State governor, Nasir El-Rufai — has publicly admitted that he was wrong to have criticized former President Goodluck Jonathan.

In a moment of rare self-reflection, the young legislator, who currently represents Kaduna North in the House of Representatives, opened up about his past political misjudgments, calling them the result of youthful ignorance and poor judgment.

Speaking during an exclusive interview that has since gone viral and dominated headlines in today’s Nigerian political drama, Bello declared, “I was naive. I attacked Jonathan without truly understanding the weight of leadership and the context of his decisions.”

According to him, the years have taught him harsh lessons, and he now views Jonathan’s presidency with a deeper sense of appreciation.

But it didn’t stop at just an admission of fault. Bello went a step further, revealing that he had actually approached his father — the firebrand and often controversial Nasir El-Rufai — and pleaded with him to offer a personal apology to the former president on his behalf.

“I told my father to apologise to Goodluck Jonathan for me. I now see that we judged him too harshly,” he confessed.

This revelation marks a significant turning point in Bello El-Rufai’s political evolution. During the build-up to the 2015 elections, Bello was one of the most vocal critics of Jonathan’s administration, often using social media and public platforms to lambast the former president’s policies, especially on security and the economy.

At the time, his sentiments echoed a broader narrative pushed by the then-opposition All Progressives Congress (APC), which painted Jonathan as weak and incompetent.

However, nearly a decade later, with the country grappling with more severe insecurity, economic instability, and deepened national disunity, Bello says hindsight has changed everything.

“Now that I’m inside the system and can see how difficult governance is, I realise Jonathan handled things better than we gave him credit for. He made mistakes, but his commitment to democracy and peace was undeniable.”

The apology has sparked heated debates across Nigeria’s sociopolitical circles. Supporters of former President Jonathan have applauded Bello’s honesty, describing it as a moment of truth many politicians need to emulate.

Others, however, have questioned the timing, suspecting it may be politically calculated with 2027 elections looming and Bello’s growing influence within the APC.

Political analysts suggest this move could signal a broader softening within the APC toward figures once vilified in the past.

As discussions continue, Bello El-Rufai’s apology may well go down in history as one of the most unexpected political U-turns of the decade.

Whether this is a genuine moment of repentance or a tactical chess move ahead of the next election cycle, one thing is certain — in a country weary of recycled blame games, the words “I was naive” may have just shifted the narrative.