Tinubu didn't want me in his cabinet, El-Rufai says

The former Governor of Kaduna State, Nasir El-Rufai, said on Monday that President Bola Tinubu does not want him in his cabinet even though the president submitted his name to the Senate for confirmation and the latter rejected it.

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Mr El-Rufai stated this in an interview with Arise TV. This is the first time he would be granting an interview since he left public office in 2023.

After Mr Tinubu was sworn in as president in 2023, he nominated 48 people for ministerial positions including Mr El-Rufai. But the Senate rejected the former governor and two others, citing security reasons.

The President of the Senate, Godswill Akpabio, explained that the rejected nominees would be subjected to further security checks, urging them to take the matter to Mr Tinubu.

After his rejection by the Senate, Mr El-Rufai later told the president that he was no longer interested in being a minister.

‘National Assembly has nothing to do with me’

In his Monday interview, Mr El-Rufai said he believes the president did not want him to be in his cabinet and only used the Senate’s refusal as a justification.

“The president didn’t want me in his cabinet,” Mr El-Rufai publicly declared for the first time since his nomination as a minister was rejected. “The National Assembly has nothing to do with me.”

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Mr El-Rufai said he has no security issue that would warrant scrutiny.

“What was the security issue? I have been the governor of one of the difficult states. I was a minister 20 years ago,” he said, adding that no one has released the security report since the drama in the Senate.

The former governor, who supported Mr Tinubu’s candidacy during the general election in 2023, said he had told the president that he was not interested in any position.

He said he only accepted to be part of the government when Mr Tinubu came with the challenge of revamping electricity.

READ ALSO: El-Rufai alleges plot to arrest him, fixes date to return to Nigeria

He said he believes the president changed his mind on having him as a minister.

“The president is a human being. He changed his mind and I moved on,” Mr El-Rufai said.

The relationship between Mr-Rufai and the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) including his successor, Governor Uba Sani, has worsened with the former governor publicly criticising his party and its leadership.