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The immediate past governor of Kaduna State, Malam Nasir El-Rufai, has been caught in a trending video discussing how it is unfair for him to take up a ministerial appointment at his current age.
El-Rufai gained national prominence during his time as the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) under former President Olusegun Obasanjo's government.
His four-year stint ran from 2023 to 2007, and he has since gone on to govern Kaduna State for two terms.
Sometime last year, El-Rufai publicly vowed not to seek or accept any political appointment after leaving office on May 29, 2023, expressing his desire to return to lecturing.
Some days before the presidential election, he also condemned the notion that his support for the then-APC candidate, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, was motivated by his quest for a political appointment.
But, the former governor's name made it to the ministerial list President Tinubu forwarded to the Senate on Thursday, July 27, 2023, for screening and confirmation.
Many Nigerians were stunned by the development and have since been questioning the integrity of the minister-designate.
Amidst all that, a video has now surfaced online showing El-Rufai explaining why it would be inappropriate of him to jostle for a ministerial position this year.
Speaking in Hausa, he said, “You became a minister at forty-three and after twenty years then you become a minister at sixty-three? What of your children and younger brothers? Will they not become ministers? Is the position meant for you alone? I don’t like this. Let go of this topic.
“Thank God I was lucky that I became Minister of Abuja when I was forty-three years old. Next year I will clock sixty-three. Then I will go back. So, nobody among my younger brothers and children is capable of becoming a minister? You fail when you fail to train those to succeed you. I have trained a lot of people who are capable of succeeding in many areas.”
Going by the material evidence in the video, it can be concluded that it was recorded back in 2023. El-Rufai was born on February 16, 1960, meaning he would be 64 next year, therefore, his reference to his age in the clip justified the above claim.
Also, the incident happened in what looked like an office with the portrait of former President Muhammadu Buhari hung on the wall, another testament that the conversation predated his recent ministerial nomination.