Former Governor of Kaduna State, Nasir El-Rufai, has stated that President Bola Tinubu rejected him as a ministerial nominee and not the National Assembly.
Speaking in an interview with Arise Television’s programme, Prime Time, El-Rufai said the President changed his mind on the nomination after asking him publicly to not be far from him after leaving office.
In August 2023, the Senate withheld the confirmation of El-Rufai as a ministerial nominee, citing security reports from the State Security Service for the action.
He said: “After serving for eight years as governor of Kaduna state, I had my plans. The President publicly appealed to me to put my plans on hold and after sometime we finally agreed that he would nominate me as a minister, and there were certain conditions I attached to that. I think along the line, either the president changed his mind or something else.
“Please, don’t believe the story that the National Assembly rejected me. The President didn’t want me in his cabinet, he changed his mind. Whatever it is, frankly, I don’t care.”
El-Rufai also explained why he accepted to work for Tinubu prior to the 2023 presidential election. He said he never wanted to be Minister after he concluded his two terms as governor.
He claimed that Tinubu appealed and begged him to work for him (Tinubu) so that they could sort out electricity challenge in the country.
“The President is entitled to change his mind. It is a job I never wanted in the first place. I was a Minister 20 years ago.and I told Tinubu I didn’t want to be Minister. I am not interested.
“He appealed to me, begged me. He gave me a challenge. What was the challenge? Nobody has sorted out electricity.
“No President has defeated the electricity mafia. You and I can work to defeat it. It was the challenge that made me to accept,” he said.
The former Minister of FCT said he is no longer friends with his successor in office, Governor Uba Sani. He accused the governor of betraying their long-term friendship.
