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| (Chief El Rufai) |
From reliable sources, El Rufai, the former governor of Kaduna State, has abandoned his interest in joining President Bola Tinubu's government.
According to Presidency sources, Mr El-Rufai told President Tinubu during a meeting on Tuesday that he was no longer interested in becoming a minister but would continue to contribute to Nigeria's growth as a private man.
"He also told the president that he needed time to focus on his doctorate programme at a university in the Netherlands," one of the news sources added.
Another source told this outlet that the former governor proposed a new ministerial nominee for Kaduna State, Jafaru Ibrahim Sani, adding the President would find him very valuable and resourceful.
Mr. El-Rufai paid the President a visit at the presidential villa the day after the Senate confirmed 45 cabinet nominations following a week-long screening of 48 of them.
The higher legislative house, however, postponed his and two other confirmations, citing security reports from the State Security Service as the reason.
Sani Danladi, a former Taraba senator, and Stella Okotete, a Delta State nominee, were the other two candidates.
According to news sources after learning of the Senate's decision in his case, Mr El-Rufai, who had just returned to Nigeria from London on Monday, requested and received an appointment with the president.
According to our sources, during the meeting on Tuesday afternoon, President Tinubu informed the former governor that he had received some petitions critical of his administration.
The president then requested 24 hours of grace to consider the petitions and the SSS report before making a decision.
Mr El-Rufai stated that he was no longer interested in becoming a minister since it looked that some forces close to the president were working hard to prevent his appointment as a federal minister.
Mr El-Rufai revealed during his confirmation hearing on August 1 that Mr Tinubu requested him to collaborate with him on the country's electricity crisis.
According to him, the President set a seven-year deadline for Nigeria to stop experiencing power shortages.
Mr El-Rufai allegedly told the President on Tuesday that, because he would no longer be a member of the federal executive council, he would return the next day with his team to submit the preliminary work done so far on the energy sector.
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