posted September 06, 2023
The Advocate for Better Leadership and Sustainable Rural Development Initiative (Able) has lamented the inability of the Senate to clear the immediate past Governor of Kaduna state, Mallam Nasir El-Rufai for ministerial position adding that the country ought to have tapped from the vast experience of the former FCT Minister.
You may wish to recall that the Senate recently declined to clear El-Rufai, citing a security report.
The group who stated this in a statement signed by its Executive Director, Comrade Uche Madu, and made available to newsmen in Abuja. went memory lane and traced what they described as the immense contributions of Mallam Nasir El-Rufal to the emergence of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and Vice President Kassim Shettima.
According to Comrade Madu, El-Rufai deserved a prominent post in this administration considering the role he played in selling the Tinubu/Shettima ticket to Nigerians
“He is one the then sitting governor that took the former government of President Buhari to the Supreme Court over the Naira swap policy for the sake of Nigerians, at the risk of being victimized by that administration.
” People should not forget easily the efforts of El-Rufai and 11 other governors from the North in ensuring that the South gets the mandate during the primaries as well as the support given by the same group to Tinubu during the ill-conceived naira redesign policy of the former President Buhari administration. He made the current status a fait accompli and those concerned owed him gratitude.
The statement partly read, “Apart from El-Rufai’s solid support and backing before, during, and after the election, he is a renowned technocrat whose vast expertise and knowledge ought to be deployed at this critical time of our journey to nationhood. He has done so well in Abuja and Kaduna and he will deliver if given the opportunity.
“A trip to Kaduna state will tell you of the huge infrastructural transformation in all corners of the state be it in Kafachan, Akwanga, or Zaria not to talk of Kaduna, the capital city.
” It is evident that El-Rufai restored the past glory of Kaduna, as the headquarters of Old Northern Region. Under his watch, the state Internally Generated Revenue increased to over 380 percent and a database for every ministry.
“I therefore urge the ruling All Progressive Congress and other stakeholders to as a matter of fact ensure that subsequently, the baby is not thrown away with the bath water. Some of these issues should be handled without sentiment for the interest of the nation, ” he said.