The former governor of Kaduna State, Mr Nasir El-Rufai has rebutted that the senate rejected his ministerial nomination.
Instead, he said President Bola Tinubu did not want him in his government.
Recall that in July 2023, Tinubu sent the list of ministerial nominees, including el-Rufai, to the senate for screening and confirmation.
In August 2023, the senate withheld the confirmation of El-Rufai as a ministerial nominee, citing security reports from the State Security Service for the action.
The development was interpreted by political analysts as a move to whittle down the influence of the former Kaduna governor in the presidency.
However, speaking on Arise News late yesterday, the former governor exonerated the senate from stopping his cabinet appointment but that the president simply changed his mind about him.
“After serving for eight years as governor of Kaduna state, I had my 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,” he said.
Consequently, he said he was not sure if he would support Tinubu’s re-election in 2027.
Besides, he said he was not certain if he would still be a member of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) on2027.
“I don’t know (if I will support Tinubu in 2027). I will evaluate the situation at the time, and I will consult widely. When I supported President Tinubu before the primaries, it was a decision that the leaders of APC took in Kaduna. Who do we support? We succeeded in ensuring that power goes to the south, and we know that all the northern candidates will go nowhere, Yahaya Bello, Ahmed Lawan, we knew.
“But among the southerners, who do we support; they know those that are my friends. Tinubu was not my friend. I was never close to him. But the consensus of the APC in Kaduna was that we should support Bola Tinubu because he is the one that is more likely to win. Politicians make these calculations.
“In 2027, I’m going to consult the same people. We are going to take the same decision, which candidate to support and in which party,” he said.
El-Rufai further said that he agreed with those accusing Tinubu of making imbalanced appointments.
He pointed out that it would be very wrong to accuse the whole of southwest for the misdeeds of Tinubu saying the appointments are not evenly distributed across the six states of geopolitical zone.
“The president’s appointments are not being made because the appointees are Yoruba, but because they are his own boys. Most of the appointments do not even reasonably cover the southwest.
“So people should stop confusing the truth. The appointments are not balanced. Yes, definitely, definitely, right? You cannot argue that, but it’s not a Yoruba thing. Please don’t punish the Yorubas as you have been punishing northerners for the sins of the military.
“Let’s focus on individuals and hold them accountable. President Tinubu needs to do something about that. It’s still not too late. He can correct it, but there is palpable anger in the north,” he declared.
