Former Kaduna State Governor, Mallam Nasir El-Rufai, has revealed that President Bola Tinubu personally withdrew his cabinet nomination, dismissing claims that the Senate rejected him over security concerns.
Speaking during an interview on Arise TV on Monday night, El-Rufai clarified that the National Assembly had no role in his exclusion from Tinubu’s cabinet, contrary to widespread reports citing a Department of State Services (DSS) security report.
“Forget what you read. The National Assembly did not reject me. President Bola Tinubu changed his mind about working with me. The security thing was a good excuse they used,” El-Rufai stated.
He further explained that he initially agreed to serve after Tinubu personally appealed to him, challenging him to help fix Nigeria’s long-standing electricity issues.
“Tinubu appealed to me and begged me. He threw me a challenge that no president has sorted out electricity problems. He said, ‘You and I can do it.’ It was the challenge that made me accept it,” El-Rufai said.
Despite the turn of events, El-Rufai expressed no regrets, emphasizing his contentment with returning to private life. “I was minister 20 years ago. I don’t need to be in politics. I have a private life. The person that gave me the opportunity took it back, and that is not a problem,” he concluded.
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