Former Kaduna State Governor Nasir El-Rufai has withdrawn his interest in ministerial appointment following non-clearance by the Senate.
Recall that the Senate had last week confirmed 45 out of the 48 ministerial nominees, excluding El-Rufai and two others, including Danladi Sani, the Taraba state nominee and Stella Okotete, of Delta state, over what they said was due to refusal by security agencies to clear them.
The Senate had directed the affected nominees to meet with the President to resolve the issue.
BusinessDay gathered that the former Kaduna State Governor while dropping his ambition, named his former Commissioner for Local government, Jafaru Sani, to replace him.
Read alsoAtedo Peterside backs Gov el-Rufai in calling for end to NNPC
Although it was not immediately clear why the security agencies refused to clear him, it was gathered that the former Governor said he wanted to pursue his Doctorate at a University in The Netherlands.
The former Minister of the FCT was seen in a trending video saying that the President insisted on him serving in the current administration.
According to the former Governor, who spoke in the Hausa language, “ I told the President several times that I have become too big for this kind of assignment. He is the one who kept insisting that he wants me to work with him.”
However, it is not immediately clear, if President Bola Tinubu has accepted his requests to be replaced.
The former Kaduna state Governor was rumoured as one to occupy the Ministry of Power, having served as the Director General ( DG) in the Bureau of Public Enterprises( BPE), under whose tenure many of the nation’s assets were privatised
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