President Tinubu Not National Assembly Rejected Me As Ministerial Nominee — El-Rufai

TUESDAY February 25, 2025 |TheNewsDESK
www.thenewsdesk.ng

A 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, ThePUNCH reports.

He made this disclosure on Monday while speaking during an interview on Arise Television’s programme, Prime Time.

PUNCH Online reports that Tinubu nominated El-Rufai for a ministerial appointment while forming his cabinet. However, the National Assembly rejected the ex-Kaduna governor based on what sources linked to “security concerns.”

The former Minister of the Federal Capital Territory said the President changed his mind on the nomination after asking him publicly not to be far from him after leaving office.

He said, “Since I left office and the President begged me publicly to come and serve in his government, I had my plans and told President Tinubu from day one when he asked me to support him, I said would, but I don’t want anything because politics in Nigeria is always about what do I get for giving you support.

“I’m not in politics for that reason. 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, and I had my private plans.

“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.

“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 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.

“Since I’ve moved on, I’ve not said a word, I’ve not granted an interview, I’ve not commented on the government, but it is within my right as a founding member of the All Progressives Congress to ask why the party isn’t functioning.”