By John Ogunsemore
Former presidential aide, Reno Omokri has said Mallam Nasir El-Rufai’s assertion that he was not interested in serving in President Bola Tinubu’s cabinet is untrue.
Omokri, who was social media aide to former President Goodluck Jonathan, said this in a Facebook post on Thursday in apparent reaction to a verbal altercation between El-Rufai and presidential media aide, Daniel Bwala.
Addressing Bwala on X on Thursday, El-Rufai had said, “I was cabinet minister 22 years ago, and was clear to Asiwaju that I was not interested in any position in his future government. The pathetic manner all of you latter-day converts to the Tinubu government make an issue of something that I never wanted in the first place is perhaps a reflection of the level of your moral flexibility.”
On August 7, 2023, the Senate confirmed 45 out of 48 ministerial nominees of President Bola Tinubu, withholding the confirmation of El-Rufai and two others, citing security reports from the Department of State Services (DSS).
However, reports emerged that El-Rufai, who was in London when the Senate made its position known, approached President Tinubu on August 9, 2023, to withdraw his interest in the ministerial nomination.
El-Rufai was said to have informed Tinubu that he was not interested in becoming a minister but would continue to contribute his quota to the development of Nigeria as a private citizen.
Reacting, Omokri noted that the former Kaduna governor would not have presented himself for ministerial screening if he truly did not want to become minister.
He said, “This Nasir el-Rufai thinks we are all children. You claim not to be interested in being a minister, yet you submitted yourself for ministerial screening.
“It is like saying you are not interested in free food, yet you visited my house with a spoon in your pocket. The short man should not leave us short of words!”
