‘I’m not part of Aso Rock cabal,’ Governor says

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February 20, 2017 12:03 PM

El-Rufai said further that he does not participate in federal decision making despite being close to President Muhammadu Buhari.

Kaduna State Governor, Nasir El-Rufai has said that he is not part of

He made the comments during a recent meeting with journalists in Lagos.

“Am I very close to Buhari? Yes. I worked very closely with him in the CPC (Congress for Progressive Change) when everyone had given up on him. I know him, I know how he thinks and he trusts me,” the governor said according to The Nation.

“He knows that I am driven by public interest. Do I participate in federal decision making? I don’t. I am too busy addressing Kaduna problems to be part of it. When I am called for an opinion or when I happen to be around, and I have an input or if I see something going seriously wrong; I drive and go and see Mr. President I have heard A, B, C, D. I don’t think it is right, you should consider doing C, D, E. I do that and I drive back to Kaduna.

“My primary assignment is Kaduna. I am not involved in the Federal Government. People like to say and attribute so much to me, and sometimes it is good for me, it gives me a larger than life image!

“There is always a cabal. Even in your own newspaper, there is a cabal. Nobody can run an institution without a coterie of two, three, four trusted people. There is always a cabal; the issue is whether it is a positive or a disruptive cabal. Am I a member of the cabal? No, I am governor of Kaduna State, I work for Kaduna State 24/7. Why have you not transmitted some good things you did in Kaduna like the attachment of portfolios to commissioners-designate to the president?” he added.

First Lady, Aisha Buhari caused controversy in October 2016 when she said that her president’s government had been hijacked by a cabal.

ALSO READ:5 shocking things Aisha Buhari said in BBC interview

“The president does not know 45 out of 50, for example, of the people he appointed and I don't know them either, despite being his wife of 27 years,” Mrs Buhari told BBC.

“Some people are sitting down in their homes folding their arms only for them to be called to come and head an agency or a ministerial position,” she added.

President Buhari however dismissed her comment by saying that she belongs in the kitchen and the other room and does not have any business commenting on politics.

Meanwhile, Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Babachir Lawal, has said that he is honoured to be a member of the supposed presidential cabal.

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