Nasir El-Rufai:

 Despite writing a very critical open letter to Buhari months ago, El-Rufai is still seen as one of the President's loyalists.

There are claims that the Kaduna state governor will only run if  Buhari chooses to throw in the towel after his first term. El-Rufai's public perception will be his biggest challenge.

Gov. Nasir El-Rufai of Kaduna State.
After certain comments in the build-up to the last elections, El-Rufai must clear out his stance on the relationship between Nigeria's tribes  (Guardian)
Insensitive comments made in the build-up to the 2015 elections caused many to accuse him of explicit tribalism.

In his home base, his handling of the Southern Kaduna crisis drew some criticism from other rivals, most notably Senator Shehu Sani.

2019 will present El-Rufai with a potential second term as Kaduna governor but he might set his eyes on bigger things.

For now, Kaduna is his primary charge. Infrastructtural projects are on-going. Still, the governor has not missed any opportunity to contribute to the national discourse, including berating Aisha Al-Hassan for endorsing Atiku Abubakar.

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