I Told President Tinubu Why I Don’t Need His Appointment – El-Rufai

Former governor of Kaduna State, Malam Nasir El-Rufai, has described those trying to make a mountain out of his rejection by the Senate for his ministerial position as “political mercenaries” that receive humongous monthly stipends from the security vote and jump on X and other platforms to defend everything the President Bola Ahmed Tinubu does or fails to do, no matter how indefensible it may be.

This was as he pointedly said that there was never a time he lobbied or expressed the desire to be a member of the President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s cabinet, stressing that having served as minister 22 years ago, he made it clear and informed President Tinubu that he was not interested in any ministerial position.

The Senate of the National Assembly had in August 2023, declined to confirm the nomination of El-Rufai as minister of the Federal Republic over a security report from the State Security Service (SSS).

El-Rufai took to his X handle on Thursday morning, criticizing those making an issue out of his absence from the administration, describing them as “latter-day converts” who lack moral integrity.

El-Rufai, who stated these while responding to a presidential aide, Daniel Bwala, who asked if his take on the APC would have been different if he were a member of Tinubu’s cabinet, pointedly dismissed insinuations that he sought a position in Tinubu’s government.

The immediate past governor of Kaduna State, had criticized the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) for allegedly “abandoning its core values”, stressing that he does not recognise his party any longer.

The Tweet by El-Rufai stated; “Good morning, @BwalaDaniel. I was cabinet minster 22 years ago, and was clear to Asiwaju that I was not interested in any position in his future government.

“The pathetic manner all of you latter-day converts to the Tinubu government make an issue of something that I never wanted in the first place is perhaps a reflection of the level of your moral flexibility.

“If I had remained in the Tinubu government, I will say or do the same on the tragedy within a party I was a founder, and the government that emerged from it – first in private sessions with those concerned, and then go public if no remedial actions are taken.

“Go and check my public service record from 1998. I am only responding to you because I still think you are a decent person who may need a job, and not in the class of Wendell Simlin and that Kaduna pretender that our voters retired in 2019 – these clowns are political mercenaries that receive humongous monthly stipends from the security vote to be the first to jump on X and other platforms to defend everything the Asiwaju government does or fails to do, no matter how indefensible it may be.

“Enjoy your special adviser position, my brother, but remember that allegiance to God and country comes first in human scale of accountability, before any person or authority,” – @elrufai.