3 hours ago
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Former Kaduna State governor, Nasir El-Rufai, has rubbished the notion that his hope to serve as a minister in the President Bola Tinubu’s cabinet was dashed by the National Assembly.
Speaking during an interview on Arise TV’s Prime Time, last night, El-Rufai said claims that the Senate rejected his nomination over security concerns should not be discountenanced.
He disclosed that President 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.
He also lambasted 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 concerns 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 Tinubu, none of the party organs is functioning. The progressive ideals are not being pursued with any vigour,” he declared.
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