Nigeria, Feb. 26 -- My mother used to warn me that the words of my mouth could claim my head if I weren't careful. She should have saved that warning for another man: Nasir El-Rufai, former minister and governor of Kaduna State. I've often joked that even if you beheaded El-Rufai and minced his skull, his tongue would still be wagging. Those who have been in his crosshairs might agree.

He once said even if President Muhammadu Buhari were hit on the head with a Blackberry phone, the former president might still not know the difference between the phone and a blackberry fruit.

His rhetoric against Vice President Atiku Abubakar was no less brutal. He accused the former vice president of playing "SIM-card politics," describing Abubakar as a...