Immediate-past governor of Kaduna State, Nasir El-Rufai, has said that his ministerial nomination by President Bola Tinubu in 2023 was not rejected by the Senate, but by the President.
Speaking on Tuesday night during an interview on Arise TV, El-Rufai said President Tinubu simply “changed his mind” on the ministerial nomination.
“The National Assembly had nothing to do with it, the president didn’t want me in his cabinet,” El-Rufai said
El-Rufai also criticised the party’s leadership, stating that its organs have been inactive since Tinubu assumed office.
“I’m a founding member of the APC, but I have a concern about how the party is being run… how many people sacrificed a lot to ensure that it was an internally democratic party with progressive ideals, two years after the election of President of Tinubu, none of the party organs is functioning. The progressive ideals are not being pursued with any vigour,” he said.
The former governor revealed that after extensive negotiations, Tinubu personally requested his support and assured him of a ministerial nomination, which came with certain conditions. However, the president later withdrew the offer.
“Since I left office and the president begged me publicly to support him, I said I would and I don’t want anything. I am a self-made man. I don’t need anything. Through two months of negotiations, we finally agreed that he would nominate me as minister and there were certain conditions I attached to that, along the line, either the president changed his mind. Please don’t believe the story that the National Assembly rejected me, they had nothing to do with it, the president didn’t want me in his cabinet,” he added.
On the alleged security concerns cited for his rejection, El-Rufai challenged the claim, insisting there was no report against him.
“What was the security issue the National Assembly had against me? Where is the report? There were far less qualified, less experienced that scaled through because the president made a call. He is a human being he’s entitled to change his mind.” he said
