Nasir el-Rufai, former governor of Kaduna, says Atiku Abubakar, ex-vice-president, deserves credit for spearheading economic reforms during the Olusegun Obasanjo administration.

Abubakar was vice-president in the Obasanjo government from 1999 to 2007.

He was also tasked with overseeing the privatisation of national assets, with the Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE) headed by el-Rufai, also within his purview at the time.

Speaking during a condolence visit to the family of Edwin Clark, the elder statesman and Niger Delta advocate who died on February 17, el-Rufai said Abubakar deserves flowers for economic policy making under Obasanjo.

“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 said.

“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.”

In 2016, el-Rufai launched a scathing attack on Abubakar, accusing him of being an expert in spreading falsehood.

He also said Abubakar was haunted by “demons of corruption”.