Nasarawa State Governor, Abdullahi Sule, has stated that the Progressives Governors’ Forum (PGF) cannot intervene in the ministerial nomination issues involving former Kaduna State Governor Nasir El-Rufai.
Sule clarified that El-Rufai remains a member of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) despite the National Assembly rejecting his nomination as a minister in August 2023.
“El-Rufai has not left our party; he is still part of our party,” Sule said during an appearance on Channels Television’s Politics Today on Wednesday, January 8. “What led to his nomination, what led to his rejection by the Senate or by the security agencies, to be honest with you, are not issues we discussed either at the Progressives Governors’ Forum or even the Nigeria Governors’ Forum. They are not issues because what doesn’t concern us, we can do nothing about it. It is the prerogative of Mr President to nominate whoever should be his minister and he nominated. Also, there are agencies including the National Assembly that either confirm or reject and they rejected (him).”
El-Rufai was a prominent figure in the northern bloc of the APC who played a critical role in ensuring the party’s presidential ticket for the 2023 election was awarded to a southern candidate. This move aligned with the informal power rotation arrangement between Nigeria’s southern and northern regions following the completion of President Muhammadu Buhari’s eight-year tenure from the North-West geopolitical zone.
The former Kaduna governor, who held office from May 2015 to May 2023, was vocal in his support for former Lagos State Governor Bola Tinubu as the APC presidential candidate. Alongside other northern governors, El-Rufai backed Tinubu over two other prominent northern aspirants — former Senate President Ahmad Lawan and ex-Jigawa Governor Mohammed Badaru. Tinubu eventually secured the APC ticket and won the February 2023 presidential election.
In line with Nigeria’s tradition of rewarding key political allies with government positions, Tinubu nominated El-Rufai as a minister three months after assuming office. However, his nomination was rejected by the Senate, citing security concerns raised by the Department of State Services (DSS) as the reason for his disqualification.
]Since his rejection, El-Rufai has remained absent from APC gatherings and has not been seen at the Presidential Villa or in proximity to President Tinubu, whom he had campaigned for during the elections. Instead, he has been spotted with leaders of the Social Democratic Party (SDP), sparking rumours of a potential defection, which he has repeatedly denied.
Additionally, tensions have escalated between El-Rufai and his successor as Kaduna governor, Sani Uba, with the state assembly launching a probe into El-Rufai’s eight-year tenure over allegations of corruption.