A former Governor of Kaduna State, Nasir El-Rufai, has claimed President Bola Tinubu rejected him as a ministerial nominee and not the National Assembly.

El-Rufai made this claim while speaking during an interview on Arise Television’s programme, Prime Time, on Monday.

The former Minister of the Federal Capital Territory said the President changed his mind on the nomination after asking him publicly not to be far from him after leaving office.

He said, “Since I left office and the President begged me publicly to come and serve in his government, I had my plans and told President Tinubu from day one when he asked me to support him, I said would, but I don’t want anything because politics in Nigeria is always about what do I get for giving you support.

“I’m not in politics for that reason. I’m not in politics to get anything. I have a surname and I’m a self-made man. I’ve made money before coming into public office. I don’t need anything. After eight years in Kaduna, I was nearly burnt out, I was struggling for eight years and I wanted to take a break and I had my private plans.

“The President publicly appealed to me to put my plans on hold and through two months of negotiations, we finally agreed that he would nominate me as minister and there were certain conditions I attached to that.

“I think along the line, either the President changed his mind or something else. Please don’t believe the story that the National Assembly rejected me. The National Assembly had nothing to do with this, the President didn’t want me in his cabinet, he changed his mind. Whatever it is, I don’t care and I’ve moved on.

“Since I’ve moved on, I’ve not said a word, I’ve not granted an interview, I’ve not commented on the government but it is within my right as a founding member of the All Progressives Congress to ask why the party isn’t functioning.”