El-Rufai Purportedly Withdraws Ministerial Interest

According to reports, Nasir El-Rufai, the former Governor of Kaduna State, has purportedly opted out of his desire to serve as a minister in President Bola Tinubu’s cabinet.

It has been learned that El-Rufai’s decision to withdraw his interest came after a meeting held at the Presidential Villa on Tuesday.

This decision came following a visit by El-Rufai to the President, which took place a day after the Senate confirmed 45 ministerial nominees after a week of screening and confirmation procedures….CONTINUE READING

 

However, the Senate withheld confirmation for El-Rufai and two other nominees—Sani Danladi, a former senator from Taraba, and Stella Okotete from Delta State—citing security reports provided by the State Security Service.

A reliable source from the presidency, who spoke with PREMIUM TIMES, indicated that El-Rufai’s decision was influenced by his ongoing doctoral program and his desire to continue contributing to Nigeria’s development as a private individual.

The source stated, “He also informed the President that he needs time to concentrate on his doctoral studies at a university in The Netherlands.”

El-Rufai is currently pursuing a doctorate in public policy at the United Nations University, Maastricht.

Another insider added that El-Rufai recommended a new ministerial nominee, Jafaru Ibrahim Sani, for Kaduna State, believing that his expertise would be beneficial and resourceful to the President.

During the meeting, President Tinubu also disclosed to El-Rufai that he had received critical petitions regarding his ministerial nomination.

The President requested a 24-hour grace period to assess the petitions and the State Security Service report submitted to the Senate. In response, El-Rufai reportedly conveyed his decision not to pursue a ministerial position any further.

He indicated that his conclusion stemmed from the perception that certain influential parties surrounding the President were actively working to obstruct his appointment as a federal minister.

El-Rufai had previously disclosed during his confirmation hearing on August 1 that Tinubu had invited him to collaborate on resolving Nigeria’s power challenges.

He conveyed that the President had set a goal of achieving a cessation of power outages within seven years.

Discussing the outcome of the Tuesday meeting, El-Rufai purportedly informed the President that, since he would no longer be part of the federal executive council, he intends to return with his team to present the preliminary progress made on the energy sector.