Immediate past governor of Kaduna State, Malam Nasir El-Rufai, has taken a swipe at President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, stating that the president did not want him to serve in his government.
El-Rufai said he believed the president only used the Senate’s refusal as a justification.
El-Rufai, a guest on the prime-time show on Arise News, said, “The President didn’t want me in his cabinet. The National Assembly has nothing to do with me.”
El-Rufai stated this for the first time since his nomination as a minister was rejected because of security concerns.
El-Rufai criticised the ruling All Progressive Congress (APC), saying the party was not following its progressive ideals and had failed to hold meetings in the last two years.
El-Rufai said if the APC failed to return to its progressive values, he would have no option but to seek to express his political values on another platform.
“The APC has lost its founding values and has left me, not me, leaving the APC because we are standing apart. I am a founding member of the APC, so if the APC does not sooner or later fix itself, I may find another platform, but certainly not PDP. I will remain in politics for life.”
On whether or not he was still a friend of his successor, the governor of Kaduna State, Senator Uba Sani, and the National Security Adviser (NSA) Nuhu Ribadu, he said they were at some point but never again, alleging that Malam Ribadu was the architect of all efforts to tarnish his image.
“Nuhu Ribadu wants to become president in 2031 and he wants to destroy every northerner who opposes him; that is the point,” Malam El-Rufai alleged.
On his ministerial nomination, which did not work out, Malam El-Rufai said he never wanted to be a minister, but that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu begged him to join his cabinet to help fix the electricity sector, and he agreed.
He, however, said it was not any security report that stopped him but that the President May have changed his mind.
“President Tinubu engaged me for two months, negotiating with me to be part of his cabinet. I eventually agreed, but with a condition. Perhaps he changed his mind or did not want me in his government again, so there is no security report. I believe the President changed his mind,” he said.
On some of President Tinubu’s reform policies, Malam el Rufai said he supported some of the economic policies, but the quality of those implementing the policies was the problem. He, however, said the agricultural policies are not working well.
On his 65th birthday, he said the President’s message angered some of his perceived enemies, who were unhappy and had to send him a birthday message because the President did.
On whether he has a presidential ambition for 2027, he said he was eminently qualified to contest if he wanted, but that it was still the turn of the South following the gentleman agreement of rotation.
Asked if he would support President Tinubu’s reelection, he said time would tell. However, if the situation is unfavourable, his support will still be for another Southern candidate to complete the remaining four years.
“I will still prefer a Southern to succeed Tinubu,” he said.
On the N423 billion allegation, he said he was not given a fair hearing, which he was entitled to, and that he was never invited to answer questions.
“In my eight years as governor of Kaduna State, we received about N900 billion, so how could N423 billion disappear?” he queried.
“Nuhu Ribadu is behind everything to tarnish my image. Malam Ribadu and Uba Sani were my friends at some point, but not anymore,” he stressed.
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