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asir El-Rufai, the former governor of Kaduna, states that Nigerians should not believe the claim that the national assembly rejected him as a ministerial nominee.

In an interview with Arise TV on Monday, el-Rufai revealed that President Bola Tinubu did not want him in his cabinet.

The former governor of Kaduna explained that the president publicly asked him to delay his plans and accept the ministerial role.

“The president publicly appealed to me to put my plans on hold, and through two months of negotiation, we finally agreed that he will nominate me as minister,” he said.

“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 president did not want me in his cabinet. He changed his mind.”

In July 2024, Tinubu submitted a list of ministerial nominees, including el-Rufai, to the senate for screening and confirmation.

In August 2024, the senate withheld the nomination of el-Rufai, Stella Okotete (Delta), and Danladi Abubakar (Taraba), citing security clearance.

Political analysts interpreted this action as an effort to reduce the former governor’s influence.

In response to the senate’s refusal to screen him, el-Rufai claimed the security clearance excuse was just a cover-up.

He questioned the security concerns preventing his confirmation, considering his two decades of public service.

He also pointed out that less qualified ministerial nominees were confirmed by the senate because the president made a call.

El-Rufai mentioned that the president had originally wanted him to address the country’s electricity issues.

“What was the security issue? I had been a governor for eight years in one of the most difficult states in the country. I had been a minister twenty years earlier. I have been in public life for the last 25 years,” el-Rufai added. 

“Where is the report? What about other ministers who are far less qualified, less experienced with huge controversies around them, but they scaled through because the president made a call?”