The outgoing governor of Kaduna State, Mallam Nasir El-Rufai has dispelled reports that he is eyeing the position of Chief of Staff in President-elect Senator Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s cabinet after inauguration on May 29.
According to the News Agency of Nigeria, NAN, El-Rufai made this clarification while he was in Gombe State to commission the construction of 550 housing units and Gombe Geographic Information Systems (GOGIS) Service Centre in the state.
The former minister thereby maintained various reports in the media that he is lobbying for different offices in the incoming administration are just speculations.
El-Rufai disclosed that one must not necessarily be in government before one can contribute to Nigeria’s development, saying even after leaving office, he would always contribute his quotas to the progress of the country.
“I have not had that discussion with the president-elect and I don’t like to speculate.
“I read in the newspapers all kinds of portfolios assigned to me but you know, I am a committed Nigerian.
“I want to see my country make progress and whatever I can do to contribute to the development of the country, I will do it.
“But, I don’t have to do it working in government. Everyone who is working either in the private sector or civil society is contributing.
“There is not just one way to contribute to the country and I will never stop working for Nigeria’s progress,” he said.
The governor furthered that at the end of his tenure on May 29, he would disappear from the political scene but be available to offer useful advice behind the scene on how to move the country forward.
“I will be in the private sector, not any chief of staff. I will take a break and advise people like Governor Inuwa Yahaya if they need it,” he said.
Speaking Tinubu’s administration from May 29, El-Rufai noted that Nigerians would not regret voting for the president-elect, stressing that better days were ahead of Nigerians under Tinubu.
