Nigerian former presidential spokesperson, Reno omokri has revealed the reason Tinubu refused El-Rufai’s ministerial application.
Controversial Omokri took to his X account to break down what he says transpired in a post he titled “On Nasir El-Rufai’s Allegations Against President Tinubu and NSA Ribadu on Arise TV Today.”
In the highly circulated Tweet, the presidential spokesperson asserted that El-Rufai didn’t pass the security checks and hence, was not confirmed by the National Assembly. Recall that on Monday the 24th of February, Mr. El-Rufai accused President Tinubu and the National Security Adviser, Nuhu Ribadu of their involvement in his failed ministerial appointment.
Confirming that El-Rufai had stated that President Tinubu doesn’t want him in his cabinet, Reno observed: “Nothing could be further from the truth. The fact is that President Bola Tinubu nominated Malam Nasir el-Rufai as a minister and, as is constitutionally required, sent his name to the National Assembly for Senate confirmation.”
Giving further details on the issue, Omokri further added: “During the Senate confirmation process, the National Assembly requested security clearance from both national and international security and intelligence agencies, and it was discovered that Nasir el-Rufai failed his security screening woefully.”
For these and other reasons, asserted the social commentator, “Malam Nasir el-Rufai failed his security clearance” which led to him not being cleared by the Senate of the National Assembly. Reno also observed that the ex FCT minister is the architect of his own predicament, not the President or the NSA.
Refreshing his readers’ memory, Omokri recalled that El-Rufai was not the only ministerial nominee whose failed security clearance led to a failed ministerial appointment. He pointed out that “Mallam Nasir el-Rufai and two others, including Danladi Sani, the Taraba state nominee, and Stella Okotete of Delta state, were rejected because security agencies refused to clear them.”
Further, Reno pointed out that among other nominees visited by a similar fate as El-Rufai, none of them had blamed the President or the NSA, except El-Rufai.
Rounding, Reno stated that after El-Rufai issues, he retracted his ministerial nomination and named his former commissioner for local government, Jafaru Sani, as his replacement.
Meanwhile, in his February 24, 2025, interview on Arise TV’s Prime Time Live, former Kaduna State Governor Nasir El-Rufai cleared the air on some of the several key reports about him. He firmly dismissed any possibility of joining the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), citing internal issues within the party.
He stated, “I have not left the APC but the APC has left me… But one thing I can tell you for sure is that PDP is not a party that I will go to, ever.” He also addressed his relationship with President Tinubu. Referring to the rumors of a rift, El-Rufai clarified that he harbors no ill will towards President Bola Tinubu’s administration. However, he expressed disagreements with certain policy implementations and the caliber of individuals appointed by the President. However, he didn’t address the case of his future political plans of forming alliances with other parties like the SDP and PDP.
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