Former Kaduna State Governor, Nasir El-Rufai, has stirred controversy with fresh allegations that some individuals paid bribes to secure ministerial appointments in the current administration of President Bola Tinubu.
El-Rufai made the claims during an interview with BBC Hausa, where he recounted his experience during the ministerial nomination process in 2023.
According to him, he did not lobby for a ministerial position, insisting that his nomination came at the request of the president himself.
“I know some that paid money before they put their names as ministers,” El-Rufai alleged in the interview.
He emphasized that he neither vied for the position nor pushed for his name to be included in the list of nominees sent to the Senate.
Recall that in July 2023, President Tinubu forwarded a list of ministerial nominees to the Senate, with El-Rufai among them.
However, his nomination, along with those of a few others, was withheld by the Senate over undisclosed security concerns.
El-Rufai, however, claimed that President Tinubu personally appealed to him to take up the ministerial role, particularly to address Nigeria’s long-standing electricity crisis.
“Mr President begged me, and even the whole world knows he begged me in Kaduna. He said he wanted me to tackle the electricity problem because he wants to be remembered as the president who solved it,” he stated.
Despite not securing the appointment, El-Rufai said he has no regrets supporting Tinubu during the 2023 presidential election. Nonetheless, he admitted being disappointed by recent developments.