Former Kaduna State Governor, Nasir El-Rufai, has credited ex-Vice President Atiku Abubakar for spearheading key economic reforms during President Olusegun Obasanjo’s administration.
Speaking during a condolence visit on Friday to the family of the late elder statesman, Chief Edwin Clark, El-Rufai highlighted Atiku’s leadership in driving the privatisation of national assets through the Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE), which El-Rufai headed at the time.
“Nobody gives Alhaji Atiku Abubakar the credit for economic policy-making under the Obasanjo administration. Many of the things we did, we did under his leadership,” El-Rufai stated. “Maybe because we don’t write about it, and people don’t read history, we tend to forget. We only remember negative things. Maybe it’s part of human nature.”
El-Rufai’s acknowledgment marks a shift from his past criticisms of Atiku, whom he previously accused of corruption-related misconduct in 2016.
Atiku, who shared a video of the condolence visit on X, praised Clark’s legacy as a unifying figure in Nigeria. “The passing of Clark was not only a loss to the family, PANDEF, and the Niger Delta but the whole of Nigeria that he had adopted as his constituency,” Atiku noted, urging leaders to honor Clark’s legacy by promoting unity and inclusiveness.
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