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The question that some are asking is, why always Nasir el-Rufai? He seems to always be in the news. This time it is for not being cleared to become minister of the federal republic again, 24 years after he first executed a ministerial mandate.
The appointment by President Olusegun Obasanjo provided el-Rufai the opportunity to market himself to Nigerians as someone who had the capacity to do things right.
To this day, many people still make reference to his time as the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory as the most impactful. It also exposed him as a most controversial leader. It is that controversial part of him that has endeared him to many Nigerians. This is because politicians thrive on controversy.
With this aspect of him, el-Rufai led Kaduna for eight years. During these years, he delivered on his mandate. He stepped on toes. He also polished some with oil. But his most enduring quality is the fact of his courage and boldness in standing up for whatever he believes is right. Some see that as arrogance. Many see it as being true to self. This is why, in spite of his closeness to Muhammadu Buhari, el-Rufai also tormented him with the truth and what was right.
The majority of his associates and traducers remember clearly that in the run-up to the presidential primary election of the All Progressives Congress (APC), he stood firmly for Bola Ahmed Tinubu and in his conviction that the party must not make the same mistake that cost the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) the presidency in 2015.
The issue was this! APC, at inception, agreed to a gentleman’s decision on power rotation between the North and the South. With Buhari through with the first eight years of having power in the North, attempts were ferociously made by some leaders of the party to thwart the agreement and retain power in the North.
This plot was orchestrated by the leadership of APC at the time leading to the last-minute drafting of Senate Ahmed Lawan, then Senate president, into the race. Everything was seemingly settled for a Lawan presidential ticket when el-Rufai mobilised other northern state governors to put up a fight.
The fight, from the perspectives of those who fought along with him, was not principally against Lawan and Buhari as individuals. It was rather about respecting an agreement made among people who had vowed to respect their personal dignity. This was the fight that ensured that the Lawan project was defeated by the North. It was also the fight that ensured that the APC presidential ticket went southwards and, beneficially, to Tinubu.
El-Rufai did not stop there. He was also openly vocal in his campaign for Tinubu. He, like so many others, worked for Tinubu. He believed in Tinubu and stood his ground for him.
No doubt, he made some enemies in the process and, as it said, good gamblers know when to play their best cards. Perhaps that card is now being played against him with the suspension of his clearance to be a minister again.
A lot of people will prefer that el-Rufai yields that field at this time and profiles students of his leadership school for appointments while he guides them from the strategy room. But for every politician, the lure of office is different. Every politician knows what he needs the next office for.
However, from the list of persons cleared by the Senate for appointment as ministers, there is nothing to justify the suspension of el-Rufai’s date. If the appointment as minister is the reward for working for APC and Tinubu in the presidential election, el-Rufai qualifies. If it is about garrulous persons, he qualifies. If it is about being controversial, he qualifies.
If it is about being knowledgeable, he qualifies. If it is about possession of higher academic degrees, he qualifies. If it is about being result-oriented, he qualifies. If it is about courage, he got it. If it is about the capacity to discover and manage human resources, he scores high. If it is about competence, he is cool.
If it is about speaking truth to power, he does it fine. If it is about manufacturing arguments in logical defence of government policy, he is sweet. If it is about being politically correct, he is fine. If it is about being politically incorrect, he is finer.
If it is about being ambitious, he, like every senator and ministerial nominee, is the finest. But one thing is certain: el-Rufai is a survivalist.
For him, success may take some time to come, but it will always come. This is why all the conspiracy theories now being manufactured to explain the delay in his clearance by the Senate really don’t move many as those within the inner circles of the government understand that Tinubu owes el-Rufai a lot just like he owed Nyesom Wike, David Umahi, Atiku Bagudu, Bello Matawalle and many others.
Coming through for el-Rufai at this time will be a way through which Tinubu would assure BATists that their efforts would not be taken for granted and that, somehow, the government will satisfy their expectations for appointment; because that is what they laboured for.
Therefore, those managing the Tinubu end of this development ought not to make the situation look like el-Rufai was snubbed or messed with. Presenting this issue as a plot to embarrass el-Rufai could spell negatives for Tinubu and his government.
Already, some voices in the South West region are rising softly to demand places in the Tinubu government against what is now seen as the ‘government of Lagos boys’.
The argument is that almost all of South West worked to ensure that Tinubu was pronounced winner of the election but the appointments so far made by him tilt only towards his Lagos cycle. This signals problems that may distract the government and launch a narrative that will derail whatever vision Tinubu is presenting before his team.
