El Rufai goes psychological, lyrical about missing ministerial clearance
Former Governor of Kaduna State, Nasir El-Rufai, on Sunday, went psychological about his not being cleared and confirmed as minister by the Senate in a posted message on social media.
In a message on X, formerly known as Twitter, the ex-governor dropped lyrics of ‘Who The Cap Fit’ by the late Jamaican singer, Bob Marley.
El-Rufai said, “Bob Marley of blessed memory is one of most talented musicians of all time. My love for reggae music is connected with his songs and music.”
The ex-governor then posted lyrics of the song:
“Man to man is so unjust, children
“Ya don’t know who to trust
“Your worst enemy could be your best friend
“And your best friend, your worse enemy
“Some will eat and drink with you
“(Some will eat and drink with you)
“Then behind them su-su ‘pon you
“Then behind them su-su ‘pon you)
“Only your friend know your secrets
“So only he could reveal it
“And who the cap fit, let them wear it!
“Who the cap fit, let them wear it!”
El-Rufai was one of the 48 ministerial nominees of President Bola Tinubu sent to the Senate for confirmation.
The Senate approved and confirmed the ministerial nominations of 45 appointees of the President but withheld the confirmation of El-Rufai and two others over “security clearance”.
On Tuesday, August 1, 2023, the Senate screened El-Rufai, a two-term governor of Kaduna from May 2015 to May 2023, and one of the nine ex-governors in the ministerial list of the President.
During El-Rufai’s screening on the floor of the Senate, Senator Karimi Sunday from Kogi West Senatorial District raised a “very strong petition” against the ex-Kaduna governor that bothered on insecurity, unity, and national cohesion.
Sunday, who praised El-Rufai’s performance as Kaduna governor and minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) some 20 years ago, said, “but I have a very strong petition against you that bothers on security, unity and cohesiveness of the Nigerian nation and I think that petition has to be considered along this screening exercise”.
Senate President Godswill Akpabio, however, prevented El-Rufai from responding to the petition.
El-Rufai was reportedly seen at the Villa after he wasn’t confirmed by the Senate. He also reportedly withdrew his interest in becoming a minister in the Tinubu administration.
The President, last week, assigned portfolios for the 45 minister-designates and reserved the Minister of Environment and Ecological Management, for Kaduna State.
Nasir El-Rufai is relishing his love for a Bob Marley soundtrack that decried betrayal by close friends and allies, days after he was forced to abandon his ministerial bid over insidious attacks from Nuhu Ribadu and the backstabbing he suffered from his political protege and Kaduna governor Uba Sani.
Mr El-Rufai was nominated for a ministerial position by Tinubu last month, but he abruptly withdrew his interest after Riibadu, the national security adviser, withheld clearance for the former Kaduna governor, leaving senators no choice but to suspend his confirmation.
He subsequently departed Nigeria for Egypt, from where he was expected to visit Europe on a study trip. The politician, prominent for his social media presence, has, however, continued to drop what he described as ‘nuggets’ on his Twitter handle.
On Sunday, he reminded his 2.3 million followers of his love for Bob Marley’s 1976 hit ‘Who the Cap Fit’ and urged his followers to “enjoy your Sunday with the song and lyrics that are timeless.”
The song contained lyrics that said: “Some will eat and drink with you. Then behind them su-su ‘pon you. Some will hate you, pretend they love you now. Then behind they try to eliminate you.”
Although Mr El-Rufai did not specifically say he was directing his cautionary tale at anyone, he has long been known to use proverbial quips to take jibes at his political detractors. In January 2021, he infamously used an ethnically-charged proverb to undercut then-raging separatist arguments in the country.
But his latest tweet, which struck a personal chord with the former governor, appeared aimed at his successor Mr Sani, who had been trying to undermine him before Mr Tinubu over who should be the replacement minister from Kaduna following Mr El-Rufai’s withdrawal.
El-Rufai had suggested to Tinubu that Jafaru Sani, one of his former commissioners, should replace him. But Governor Sani, who was backed by El-Rufai for governor, promptly visited the president to oppose the choice of his benefactor.
Sani later publicly denied telling the president to reject El-Rufai’s candidate, but he was given more than 30 hours before the article ran, and he repeatedly declined to contradict the account of presidential sources who said he berated Jafaru Sani as lacking political relevance in Kaduna.
Tinubu, who named his cabinet during the week, has yet to announce his acceptance of Jafaru Sani as the cabinet minister from Kaduna. El-Rufai did not return a request seeking comments about whether or not his tweet was aimed at Uba Sani.
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