Immediate-past Governor of Kaduna State, Nasir El-Rufai has withdrawn his interest in serving as a minister in President Bola Tinubu’s cabinet.
Premium Times reported that El-Rufai made his decision known to the president during a meeting at the Presidential Villa, Abuja on Tuesday.
It was further reported that the former governor told the president that he was no longer interested in becoming a minister in his cabinet as it has become apparent that some forces around the seat of power were scheming intensely to block his emergence.
According to the report, El-Rufai promised to continue to contribute his quota to the incumbent government’s success as a private citizen.
He was said to have told the president that he would also use the time away from public office to complete a doctorate degree in a Dutch university.
Earlier in the week, the Senate confirmed 45 of the 48 ministerial nominees presented by President Tinubu, leaving out El-Rufai; former Deputy Governor of Taraba State, Senator Abubakar Danladi; and Stella Okotete, from Delta State.
The confirmation of the three ministerial nominees was withheld following petitions against them, it was learnt.
According to reports, the petitions against El-Rufai were broadly categorised as bordering on human rights abuses, unguarded utterances and conduct, petitions, public trust abuse, and other sundry issues.
Speaking with the president on his decision to withdraw his interest in becoming minister, El-Rufai was said to have suggested another individual, Jafaru Ibrahim Sani — for Kaduna State, saying the President would find him very useful and resourceful.
Sani served as commissioner in the ministries of Local Government, Education and Environment under the administration of El-Rufai in Kaduna.