Nasir el-Rufai, the former governor of Kaduna, says Nigerians should not believe the narrative that the national assembly rejected him as a ministerial nominee.

Speaking in an interview with Arise TV on Monday, el-Rufai said President Bola Tinubu did not want him in his cabinet.

The former Kaduna governor said the president begged him publicly to suspend his plans and take up the ministerial appointment.

“The president publicly appealed to me to put my plans on hold, and through two months of negotiation, we finally agreed that he will nominate me as minister,” he said.

“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 president did not want me in his cabinet. He changed his mind.”

In July 2024, Tinubu sent the list of ministerial nominees, including el-Rufai, to the senate for screening and confirmation.

In August 2024, the senate withheld the nomination of el-Rufai, Stella Okotete (Delta), and Danladi Abubakar (Taraba), citing security clearance.

The development was interpreted by political analysts as a move to whittle down the influence of the former Kaduna governor.

Reacting to the senate’s refusal to screen him, el-Rufai said the security clearance cited by the upper chamber was a smokescreen.

The former Kaduna governor questioned what security concerns could have prevented his confirmation, given that he had spent over two decades in public service.

He added that ministerial nominees who are “less qualified” were confirmed by the senate because the president made a call.

El-Rufai said the president initially wanted him to fix the country’s electricity challenge.

“What was the security issue? I had been a governor for eight years in one of the most difficult states in the country. I had been a minister twenty years earlier. I have been in public life for the last 25 years,” el-Rufai added.

“Where is the report? What about other ministers who are far less qualified, less experienced with huge controversies around them, but they scaled through because the president made a call?”

‘RIBADU WANTS TO DESTROY MY REPUTATION BECAUSE OF HIS 2031 AMBITION’

El-Rufai also accused Nuhu Ribadu, national security adviser (NSA), of attempts to destroy his reputation because of his (Ribadu’s) 2031 presidential ambition.

He alleged that Ribadu is collaborating with Uba Sani, governor of Kaduna, and the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) to destroy his image.

“This project of destroy Nasir el-Rufai is Nuhu Ribadu’s conception. He is the architect and builder of that project. He is the one working with Uba Sani to implement it. So far, it has been frustrating for them,” el-Rufai said.

“Somebody wants to destroy my reputation. Why? Nuhu Ribadu wants to be president in 2031. He has to eliminate every northerner that he thinks is on the radar.

“In fact, what they have resorted to doing is to call low level people and some of my officials to say, ‘implicate el-Rufai and your problems will go away’. This is what ICPC has become.

“Uba Sani and Nuhu Ribadu are not my friends. They were my friends at some point but not anymore.”