Former Kaduna State governor Nasir El-Rufai is said to have lost interest in serving as a minister in President Bola Tinubu’s cabinet.
According to an exclusive revelation by Premium Times, the outspoken politician informed President Tinubu that he was no longer interested in the position of minister but pledged to support his administration and the growth of Nigeria as a private citizen.
According to one of the sources:
“He also told the president that he needed time to focus on his doctorate programme at a university in The Netherlands.”
Another source also revealed that El-Rufai suggested Jafaru Ibrahim Sani as his replacement from Kaduna State, adding that President Tinubu would find him “very useful and resourceful”.
When El-Rufai was the governor of Kaduna, Sani worked as a commissioner. He held positions in the local government, environment, and education ministries.
Recall that El-Rufai paid President Tinubu a visit at the presidential villa not long after the Senate approved 45 of the 48 cabinet nominations the White House had forwarded to the Red Chamber.
El-Rufai and two other ministerial nominees, however, were not confirmed by Nigeria’s Upper Chamber due to purported security concerns from the State Security Service (SSS).
Sani Danladi and Stella Okotete, a former senator from Taraba and a Delta State cabinet nominee, are the other two.