Former Kaduna State Governor, Nasir El-Rufai, has revealed that President Bola Tinubu personally decided not to include him in his cabinet, contrary to reports that the National Assembly rejected his nomination.
El-Rufai made this disclosure during an interview on Arise Television’s Prime Time on Monday. He stated that while the National Assembly was widely believed to have rejected his ministerial nomination due to “security concerns,” it was actually Tinubu who changed his mind about appointing him.
“Please don’t believe the story that the National Assembly rejected me,” El-Rufai said. “The National Assembly had nothing to do with this. The President didn’t want me in his cabinet. He changed his mind. Whatever it is, I don’t care, and I’ve moved on.”
Tinubu had initially nominated El-Rufai for a ministerial position when forming his cabinet. However, reports emerged that the Senate did not confirm him due to unspecified security concerns. The former governor has now clarified that the decision came from the President himself.
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Tinubu Asked Me to Join His Government
El-Rufai explained that he never sought a ministerial position and had already planned to step away from politics after his tenure as governor ended. However, Tinubu convinced him to stay close and join his administration.
“Since I left office and the President begged me publicly to come and serve in his government, I had my plans,” he said. “I told President Tinubu from day one when he asked me to support him that I would, but I don’t want anything because politics in Nigeria is always about ‘what do I get for giving you support?’”
He emphasized that he was never in politics for personal gain, stating, “I’m not in politics to get anything. I have a surname, and I’m a self-made man. I’ve made money before coming into public office. I don’t need anything. After eight years in Kaduna, I was nearly burnt out. I was struggling for eight years, and I wanted to take a break.”
Two Months of Negotiations Ended Without Appointment
El-Rufai disclosed that Tinubu spent two months convincing him to accept a ministerial position, and he eventually agreed under certain conditions. However, something changed along the way, leading the President to withdraw his nomination.
“The President publicly appealed to me to put my plans on hold, and through two months of negotiations, we finally agreed that he would nominate me as minister, and there were certain conditions I attached to that,” he explained. “I think along the line, either the President changed his mind or something else.”
Since the incident, El-Rufai has kept his distance from the government, avoiding public comments on the administration. “Since I’ve moved on, I’ve not said a word, I’ve not granted an interview, I’ve not commented on the government,” he said.
However, he maintained that he still had the right to question the current state of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), a party he helped to build. “It is within my right as a founding member of the APC to ask why the party isn’t functioning,” he said.