Clear indications have emerged that the Department of State Security’s security report on Nasir El-Rufai, a nominee for President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s ministerial team, which led to the Senate’s postponement of his confirmation, could be linked to complex political dynamics involving key figures such as Vice President Kashim Shettima, Senate President Godswill, Chief of Staff to the President Femi Gbajabiamila, and the National Security Adviser Nuhu Ribadu.....KINDLY READ THE FULL STORY HERE▶
The prevailing speculation suggests that these influential political figures engaged in orchestrating El-Rufai’s exclusion are strategically looking beyond the Tinubu era, expressing concerns that a ministerial role could position him as a potent political contender in the post-Tinubu period….CONTINUE READING
While the Senate granted confirmation to 45 of the President’s nominees, it deferred the confirmation of Nasir El-Rufai, the former Governor of Kaduna State. Similarly, Stella Okotete from Delta State and Abubakar Danladi from Taraba State also faced non-confirmation due to “security checks.”
Distinguished from the other two nominees, El-Rufai played a prominent role in supporting Tinubu’s candidacy both prior to and after the party primaries.
He stood resolutely against former National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Senator Abdullahi Adamu, who endorsed Senate President Ahmed Lawan for the APC ticket. This was despite the expectation that power would be regionally distributed to the south.
Moreover, when the former Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Godwin Emefiele, introduced the currency swap initiative, El-Rufai, along with two other state governments, took legal action against the Federal Government, the CBN, and other entities, challenging the policy in the Supreme Court.
El-Rufai’s nomination as a minister has also attracted attention due to his prior remarks about not wanting to serve again in 2003 and his reluctance to return twenty years later.
