By Gloria Drealomalicha
A fresh political disagreement has spilled into the El-Rufai family, with Bashir el-Rufai launching a blistering attack on his brother, Bello, over his political choices.
Bashir took to X on Saturday morning, where he accused Bello of putting his political interests ahead of family loyalty.
His outburst followed Bello’s decision to leave the All Progressives Congress for the African Democratic Congress in May.
Bello, who represents Kaduna North Federal Constituency in the House of Representatives, had remained in the APC after their father, former Kaduna State Governor Nasir el-Rufai, resigned from the party in March 2025.
He eventually defected to the ADC on May 7, 2026, joining the political platform his father had moved to.
But Bashir questioned why his brother waited until then to align himself with their father.
He alleged that Bello remained loyal to Kaduna Governor Uba Sani until he realised that his political relationship with the governor was no longer serving him.
“Stuck with Uba Sani until he realised he is being dumped then suddenly remembered family loyalty and moved to ADC. Where was he since? Purely serving his interest,” Bashir wrote.
Sani succeeded Nasir el-Rufai as Kaduna governor in 2023. Although the two men were once political allies, their relationship later deteriorated.
Bashir also accused Bello of staying neutral while others openly criticised Sani, alleging that his brother had previously asked him to tone down his criticism of the governor.
“At this stage in my life, I hate nonsense,” Bashir added in another post, describing Bello as a hypocrite.
The posts soon drew attention because of the personal nature of the allegations. Bashir made several other claims against his brother, some of which were later deleted. They included unsubstantiated allegations concerning Bello’s fertility and alleged drug use.
Bello had not publicly responded to the allegations at the time of filing this report.
The public clash comes as the El-Rufai family remains under the spotlight amid legal proceedings involving their father.
Nasir el-Rufai has been in custody since February 2026 over alleged financial impropriety during his eight-year tenure as Kaduna governor.
The Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission arraigned him before the Kaduna State High Court on April 13 on an amended nine-count charge bordering on alleged fraud and abuse of office.
He is also facing prosecution by the Department of State Services before the Federal High Court in Abuja over allegations relating to wiretapping.
Leave a Reply