Former Kaduna State Governor Nasir El-Rufai has accused President Bola Tinubu of rejecting him as minister after nominating and sending his name to the National Assembly for confirmation.

According to the former FCT minister, Tinubu changed his mind after nominating him, pointing out that there was no security report of any kind as was insinuated.

The former governor, who was speaking on Arise TV on Monday evening, said the party is being run poorly as “no organ of the party is functioning.”

He said, “The progressive ideas, in my view, are not being pursued” properly and “the very high expectations we had of the President to take this country to the next level based on his track record are somehow not materialising.

“So I have no issues with the Tinubu administration. People say I’m a critic of the administration. I’ve never said a word about the Tinubu administration.”

He alleged that the president begged him to work with him as soon as he left office as Kaduna governor.

“The president begged me publicly to come and serve in this government; I had my plans, and I told President Tinubu from day one. When he asked me to support him, I said I would, but I don’t want anything, okay? Because politics in Nigeria is always about what I get for giving you support. I’m not in politics for that reason.

“I’m not in politics to get anything. I have a surname. I’m a self-made man. I made my money before coming to public office. I don’t need anything,” El-Rufai added.

He emphasised that, “After eight years in Kaduna, I was nearly burnt out. I was struggling for eight years, and I wanted to take a break, and I had my private plans.

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

“And there are certain conditions I attached to that. I think, along those lines, the president changed his mind or something else because, please don’t believe the story” about the “security report. Where’s the security report?”

When asked if the president rejected him, he said, “Yes, I think so.”

He argued that no security report indicted him, emphasising that “other ministers, far less qualified, far less experienced, and far with huge controversies around them, came through because the President made a call. So please leave that aside.

“I don’t want to focus too much on that, right? The president is a human being. He’s entitled to change his mind, and it’s not an issue, and it is a job I didn’t want in the first place.

“So the slightest opportunity I had, the security thing was a good thing for me, because it enabled me to say, Mr. President, I’m gone, and I went on with my life.

“Now, since then, has anyone released that report? What is the security issue? What is this? What is that? The only reason why I’m talking about this chance is that anytime I make any comment about how the party is running or not running, or I visit a friend of mine, Tinubu Hawks, go on, ‘Oh, it’s because he didn’t get the ministerial nomination.’.

“Guys, I was a minister 20 years ago. I’m in my 40s, and I told him I did not want to be Minister. I was not interested. He appeared to me, begged me, and gave me a challenge. What was the challenge?

“He said, ‘Nobody has sorted out electricity. No president has defeated the electricity mafia; you and I can work to defeat it’. It was the challenge that made me accept that it was alright.

“Now, I had an opportunity to serve my country, and the person that gave me the opportunity” changed his mind “I said, ‘It is okay,’ and I moved on with my life.”

When asked if he had encountered the president since the ministerial denial, he answered in the affirmative, noting that “we have met, and we have met a couple of times” and “the president asked me to come and see him. I met him once, and we discussed it.

“I said I don’t have any problem. I’m fine. He said, ‘You know, we still have to fight the whole group together.’

“I said, ‘I’m waiting, you know, you tell me how we come up together. But I want to assure you, as I told you, even before the elections, I am fine. I have a private life that predates politics’.

“Do I look like I’m stressed? I have put on weight. I sleep better. I don’t have to risk security reports, our budget attacks here, or I am at peace,” El-Rufai said

Source : The Whistler