News
After failed Senate confirmation, El-Rufai withdraws interest in ministerial appointment
Following the Senate’s failure to confirm him alongside other ministerial nominees on Monday, the former governor of Kaduna State, Malam Nasir El-Rufai has withdrawn his interest in the appointment and may have recommended somebody else from Kaduna as replacement.
During confirmation, Senate President, Godswill Obot Akpabio disclosed that El-Rufai could not be confirmed due to security concerns, while two other nominees were yet to be confirmed due to one issue or the other.
According to PREMIUM TIMES exclusive report on Friday, it quoted Presidency sources to have said that, Nasir El-Rufai told President Tinubu at a meeting on Tuesday that he was no longer interested in becoming a minister but would continue to contribute his quota to the development of Nigeria as a private citizen.
“He also told the president that he needed time to focus on his doctorate programme at a University in The Netherlands,” one of our sources said.
Another insider also told this medium that the former governor suggested a new ministerial nominee — Jafaru Ibrahim Sani — for Kaduna State, saying the President would find him very useful and resourceful.
Mr Sani served as Commissioner in three ministries in Kaduna State (Local Government Education and Environment) while Mr El-Rufai was governor.
Mr El-Rufai visited the President at the presidential villa a day after the Senate confirmed 45 ministerial nominees after a week-long screening of 48 of them.
The upper legislative chamber, however, withheld his confirmation and those of two others, citing security reports from the State Security Service for the action.
The two others were a former Senator from Taraba, Sani Danladi, and a nominee from Delta State, Stella Okotete.
Our sources said on becoming aware of the Senate pronouncement on his case, Mr El-Rufai, who only returned to Nigeria from London on Monday, sought and got an appointment to meet the president.
At the meeting on Tuesday afternoon, President Tinubu, according to our sources, told the former governor he received some petitions critical of his ministerial nomination.
The president then asked for 24 hours grace to review the petitions and the SSS report to the Senate to enable him to reach a decision.
It was at that point that Mr El-Rufai responded that he was no longer interested in being minister since it appeared some forces around the president were scheming intensely to block his emergence as federal minister.
Mr El-Rufai had disclosed during his confirmation hearing on 1 August that Mr Tinubu asked him to work with him on the power problem facing the country.
According to him, the President had given a target of seven years for Nigeria to stop experiencing power outages in the country.
At the Tuesday meeting, Mr El-Rufai also reportedly told the President that since he would no longer be in the federal executive council, he would return the next day with his team to present the preliminary work done so far on the energy sector.
The team that accompanied the former governor to make presentations to the president on Wednesday includes Eyo Ekpo, a former commissioner at the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC); Hafiz Bayero, a former commissioner and administrator of the Kaduna Capital Territory Authority; Tolu Oyekan of the Boston Consulting Group and Ayodele Oni, a lawyer.
Olu Verheijen, the special adviser to the President on Energy Matters, presented on Gas.
Mr El-Rufai is studying for a doctorate in public policy at the United Nations University, Maastricht.
His associates say as he prepared to leave office as governor in May this year, he had indicated his desire to exit public life and concentrate on his PhD programme.
But that was until then President-elect Tinubu asked him to join his cabinet so he could charge him with the responsibility of repositioning the inefficient power sector in Africa’s largest economy.
It is unclear what suddenly went wrong between the two men such that an agency of government would block Mr El-Rufai’s ministerial nomination without the president lifting a finger.
When contacted, Muyiwa Adekeye, the media adviser to Mr El-Rufai, declined to comment for this story.
Meanwhile, CAPITAL POST recalled that the former governor is standing trial over unaccounted N32 billion proceeds from sales of Federal Government Houses at a Federal High Court in Abuja.
El-Rufai is being prosecuted by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC.
News
Reports of Justice Agim accompanying Wike to UNICAL convocation false, misleading Supreme Court
The Supreme Court of Nigeria has denied that one of its justices, Justice Emmanuel Agim accompanies the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory to the convocation at the University of Calabar in the South South Nigeria.
The denial came amid suspicion that Justice Agim who wrote a judgment of the Supreme Court in favour of the 27 lawmakers in Rivers State is close to Wike, hence, his presence around Wike has triggered speculations.
Wike is the former governor of Rivers State and a current of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) who controls lawmakers in Rivers.
In a statement issued on Monday by the Supreme Court’s Director of Information and Public Relations, Festus Akande, he refuted the claims, saying Agim attended the event on his own.
The statement described the rumour as misleading, insisting that Justice Agim attended the event as a honoree, urging Nigerians to disregard the social media lies.
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“Hon. Justice Agim attended the convocation as an esteemed honouree and an alumnus of the institution, who the Governing Council had found worthy to be conferred with an Honorary Doctorate Degree in Law (Doctor Honoris Causa),” the statement read.
“That Justice Agim was recognized for his significant contributions to the legal profession, which reflect his dedication to justice, integrity, and the rule of law.
Naija News reports that the statement highlighted that Justice Agim’s achievements serve as an inspiration for aspiring legal professionals and students alike.
The statement also addressed the claim that Justice Agim had attended the convocation ceremony in the company of Nyesom Wike.
It stressed that this was a false narrative, stating that Justice Agim’s attendance was independent of any government ministry or department and that he was not accompanying any government official.
“Any insinuation to the contrary is not only inaccurate but undermines the judicial independence that is crucial to our democracy,” the Supreme Court emphasized.
Additionally, the statement noted that Justice Agim had been scheduled to attend the burial ceremony of Hon. Justice Stanley Alagoa in Bayelsa State but had sought permission to attend the convocation ceremony instead.
In conclusion, the Supreme Court urged the media and the public to verify information through credible sources before dissemination.
“We encourage the public and media to verify information through credible sources before sharing or publishing to prevent the spread of misinformation,” the statement concluded.
News
State of Emergency in Rivers: $5,000 shared to Reps as ‘Sallah gesture,’ not bribe – Hon. Betara
Member representing Biu/Bayo/Shania/Kwaya/Kusar Federal Constituency of Borno State, Hon. Mukhtar Aliyu Betara has disclosed that he shared $5,000 with members of his committee as a “Sallah gesture”.
Betara who is the Reps Committee Chairman on FCT said the money was not a bribe to pass resolution declaring a state of emergency in Rivers as being insinuated.
The was posted by a Nigerian investigative journalist, Jaafar Jaafar on his X handle.
Jaafar said Betara explained this to him after the lawmaker reached out to clarify that the $5,000 given to lawmakers was merely a “Sallah gesture” and not an inducement.
He quoted Batara to have said the gesture was a long standing g tradition and has nothing to do with the state of emergency I Rivers.
Jaafar wrote:
“The chairman of the House Committee on FCT, Mukhtar Aliyu Betara, has clarified to me that he only shared $5,000 with each member of his committee as a ‘Sallah gesture,’ not as an inducement to support emergency rule in Rivers State.
“According to him, he maintains the tradition—like Santa Claus—every year.
“As we say in Hausa, not thigh but hind leg.”
The clarification by Betara came amid strong speculations that Senators received $15,000 bribe to pass a resolution to sustain declaration of state of emergency rule in Rivers.
The bribe was reportedly shared on Tuesday before they voted on Wednesday.
News
INEC holds crucial meeting to look into petition recalling Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan from Senate
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has proceeded into a crucial meeting to study and look into a petition submitted to it by constituents of Kogi Central Senatorial District.
CAPITAL POST gathered, it a top management meeting as it was claimed that over 250,000 constituents signed the petition out of 480,000 registered voters.
The meeting was confirmed on Monday by the Acting
Director of Publicity, Esther Chibuikem, stating that the meeting held at a committee room at the INEC headquarters in Abuja.
It was also confirmed that the Secretary to the commission, Rose Oriaran-Anthony, on received the petition against Natasha on Monday.
The petition follwed the nod given by the Federal High Court sitting in Lokoja on Friday where the earlier judgement restraining INEC from accepting the petition was set asid3.
Last week, constituents from Kogi Central were said to have i initiated a recall of Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan representing Kogi Central Senatorial District, but some constituents claimed that they were d3ceived into exercise as they were told to gather with their voters card for 3 powerment.
However, the Court, in a judgement delivered in Lokoja, affirmed that the recall process is constitutionally valid and aligns with the civic rights of the constituents.
The court urged the constituents to continue exercising their rights in an orderly and peaceful manner.
The development was after the court on Thursday granted an interim injunction restraining INEC, its staff, agents, privies or assigns from receiving, accepting or acting on any petition containing signatures of members of Kogi Central Senatorial District.
As at press time, INEC hasn’t release information on the next action as signatures may have to be critically compared with its register to determine validity.
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