After reviewing the president Bola Tinubu’s list of 48 nominees for ministerial positions, the Senate announced last Monday that it had approved 45 of them while rejecting three.
But it came as a major shock when the Senate declined to approve Mallam Nasir El-Rufai’s appointment as a minister of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. He was the most recent governor of Kaduna State.
Senator Abubakar Danladi, a former deputy governor of Taraba State, and Stella Okotete, a contender from Delta State, failed not receive Senate confirmation for their ministerial nominations.
El- Rufai informed President Tinubu on his visit to him last Tuesday afternoon that he was no longer interested in becoming a minister, likely shocked by the senate’s refusal to approve his nomination.
Last Tuesday, El-Rufai paid the President a visit, and Tinubu is reported to have informed him that he had received some petitions opposing his ministerial nomination.
He reportedly requested time to examine the petitions and a Department of State Security (DSS) report before reporting back to the Senate. El-Rufai reportedly notified President Tinubu that he would no longer consider his candidature as a minister in the government, according to a report citing sources inside the Presidency.
He reportedly gave Tinubu his word that he would keep doing his part as a private person to advance the country.
According to the article, El-Rufai nominated Jafaru Ibrahim Sani, who served as commissioner in three ministries in Kaduna State (local government, education, and environment), as President Tinubu’s replacement.
According to the report, El-Rufai informed Tinubu that he ‘needed time to work on his doctoral study at a university in The Netherlands’ and gave him the assurance that he would find Sani to be’very valuable and resourceful’ in the government.
According to reports, Muyiwa Adekeye, El-Rufai’s spokesperson, has yet to comment on the situation.
El-Rufai allegedly withdrew from Tinubu’s prospective cabinet when Dr. Doyin Okupe, the former director general of the Peter Obi Presidential Campaign, urged the Senate to request that El-Rufai provide an undertaking prior to his confirmation.
El-Rufai should be forced to sign a pledge promising not to criticise religion, according to Okupe. He encouraged the Senate to rethink its choice to remove El-Rufai from the ministerial ranks.
Okupe claimed in a tweet that El-Rufai is capable of managing Nigeria’s electricity problem. “I am not a fan of Mallam El-Rufai, who I consider to be somewhat of a radical and who has recently displayed some characteristics of religious extremism,” he declared. Few will, however, contest El-Rufai’s skill and prodigious performance capacity.
The Senate may request that he sign an agreement before being confirmed that he won’t discuss or make any comments on religion while serving as a minister.
“Our economy and our real attempts to alleviate poverty are both dependent on the power ministry.
“If there’s any Nigerian who can solve our electricity issues, it’s former Governor El-Rufai.
El- Rufai firmly informed the senators that President Tinubu had requested him to collaborate with him on the nation’s power crisis during screening on Tuesday, August 1, 2023.
He claimed that the President has set a deadline of seven years for Nigeria to be free of power interruptions.
The question then becomes why, in a Senate predominated by members of President Tinubu’s political party, the Red Chamber refused to approve the former Kaduna governor who is regarded as a staunch APC supporter and a close buddy.
At the conclusion of Monday’s session, Senate President Godswill Akpabio announced that the three ministerial nominees—whose names were withheld—were awaiting security clearance.
Senator Yemi Adaramodu, who serves as the Senate’s spokesperson, added, “Forty-eight names were sent, including both boys and girls. We had all the motivation we needed to complete the final screening, so we were able to affirm 45 of them; the other three are awaiting further legislative action, which would depend on other branches of the government.
“However, as of today, 45 of the 48 names submitted have been confirmed and accepted as Federal Republic of Nigeria ministers.
The President will be informed of this along with the three other names that are currently pending legislative action.
El-Rufai may have been dismissed, nonetheless, as a result of numerous petitions that were submitted against him, complaining about his security and the supposed “toxic comments” he made in public that were against the “national interest.”
During the screening, a few petitions were presented against El-Rufai, including those sent by Senator Sunday Karimi (APC, Kogi West).
Senator Karimi intervened at the ministerial screening on behalf of the former El-Rufai. He informed the chamber that he had filed a petition against the former governor about the Southern Kaduna security issue.
“Your performance in every office you held in the nation has been outstanding,” Karimi added. Your performance is evident in the Bureau of Public Enterprises, the FCT, and as the twice-elected governor of Kaduna State, you accomplished well.
But I have a very serious petition against you that worries about the security, togetherness, and cohesiveness of the Nigerian nation, Karimi continues, holding up a brown packet. And I believe that this screening process ought to take the petition into account.
Karimi then went on to present the petition to Jibrin Barau, who was serving as the Deputy Senate President and overseeing the screening process at the time.
This is not the place to consider petitions, Akpabio argued in response to the interruption. Later, we will discuss the petitions and refer them to the proper authorities.
In addition to the petitions, there were rumours about El- Rufai, stating that he was unreliable and had accepted the ministerial position to further his desire to run for president in 2027.
Some people held a very low opinion of El-Rufai. He was considered “someone who will work against President Tinubu’s ambition for a second term.” He is not regarded as a trustworthy politician who is loyal.
