Former governor of Kaduna State, Nasir El-Rufai, has claimed he supported President Bola Tinubu’s presidential ambitions, despite his “issues” in Chicago.

El-Rufai also insisted Tinubu has failed Nigeria.

He refuted claims that he betrayed former Vice President and Peoples Democratic Party ex-presidential candidate Atiku Abubakar.

Speaking in an interview with BBC Hausa, which started trending on Saturday, El-Rufai, who recently left the All Progressives Congress for the Social Democratic Party, urged opposition leaders, including Atiku, Labour Party’s Peter Obi, former Rivers State governor Rotimi Amaechi, and Rauf Aregbesola, to join the SDP.

Expressing his disappointment with the current administration, El-Rufai, who spoke in Hausa, said, “What pains me is that the government we supported and had confidence in would do well because we saw what Tinubu did in Lagos despite his challenges.

“We all know about his issues in Chicago, but we thought if he could replicate his work in Lagos for Nigeria, let’s support him. However, he failed.”

Addressing allegations of betrayal, El-Rufai stated, “I never betrayed Atiku Abubakar because we didn’t meet in politics; we met at work. At work, if I see that he didn’t do well, whoever he is, I will tell him. I told Buhari, and I even took Buhari to court on the new naira issue.”

He recalled the political feud between former President Olusegun Obasanjo and Atiku, stating that those who worked with Obasanjo at the time believed he was right.