Nasiru Ahmad El-rufai, the governor of Kaduna State, who just got reelected for his second and final term in office, will step down if President Muhammadu Buhari agrees to assign him a powerful role in the presidency in the next dispensation.
Multiple sources lobbied by the controversial governor to get their support to press Buhari to agree to the plot, told THEWILL that El-rufai wants to be named either chief of staff or principal secretary to the president, a role that he projects will help him assist the president navigate the intrigues of installing his successor, who may likely be from southern Nigeria going by the unwritten power sharing arrangement and sentiments in the ruing All Progressives Congress, APC.
The APC lost ground in the governorship election losing hitherto strongholds of Bauchi, Sokoto, Imo and Oyo to the main opposition Peoples Democratic Party, PDP because its leadership under the notorious Adams Oshiomhole failed to manage its intra party squabbles properly. The party’s fortune in Zamfara is also in jeopardy following the ruling of the Court of Appeal, which cancelled the APC’s primary elections.
THEWILL, however gathered that El-rufai is being vehemently resisted by present chief of staff to the president, Mr. Abba Kyari and Mamman Daura (Buhari’s first cousin), two very powerful people close to the president.
The governor explained to multiple sources that confided in THEWILL, that he chose to seek his reelection on a highly controversial Muslim/Muslim ticket because of his Villa ambition. “If President appoints me and I resign, Hadiza, my deputy, will then chose a Christian as her Deputy Governor. My decision was deliberate, I want a Muslim to remain governor,” he told one of our sources, who insisted not be identified in this report.
Another source briefed by El-rufai said he suspects the governor is tactically positioning himself to be running mate to the eventual candidate from the south for the 2023 presidential election.
Elrufai has met Buhari privately at least 4 times in the last four weeks as part of his strategy to woo the president. The president’s disposition to the plan remains unclear at this time, sources told THEWILL.
El-rufai, a former BPE boss and ex-FCT Minister, won his reelection by defeating Isa Ashiru of the main opposition party, Peoples Democratic party, PDP, 1,045,427 to 814,168.
