The
Kaduna State governor, has finally opened up on the leak of a 'private'
memo he wrote to President Muhammadu Buhari which its contents was
twisted to achieve sinister motives.
Gov. El Rufai
Recall that we reported some weeks ago
that Kaduna State Governor, Nasir El-Rufai sent a powerful memo to
President Muhammadu Buhari arguing that their party, the All
Progressives Congress (APC) has made the situation in Nigeria worse than
it met it by failing to be proactive in taking key decisions in a
timely manner.
“In very blunt terms, Mr. President, our APC administration has
not only failed to manage expectations of a populace that expected
overnight ‘change’ but has failed to deliver even mundane matters of
governance outside of our successes in fighting BH insurgency and
corruption,” he said in the 30-page memo, which was a follow-up to an earlier one he sent to the president.
While speaking in a new exclusive interview, with DailyTrust, Malam
Nasir El-Rufai, revealed that he was not behind the leak of the
‘private’ memo he wrote to President Muhammadu Buhari last September,
blaming the APC members with 2019 Presidential ambition for twisting its
content to achieve sinister motives.
“As I said, I have written several memos to the president. This
is the first one that has leaked. I can state categorically that I did
not leak it. If I did I would say so. I wrote the memo, it’s my own, I
could make it public if I chose to, but I did not. It was a private
communication and I can’t understand the motives of those that leaked
it. I don’t know who leaked it. But who knows? In these days of
Wikileaks, even if it is in your computer it can be hacked and taken
out. I don’t want to speculate on who leaked it or whatever, what I am
surprised at is those that are attributing motives to the memo without
even reading it.
"If you read that memo you would see that there’s no bad
motive. There’s nowhere in the memo that I said the government has
failed. It’s our government; if it fails then I have failed too. But
there’s a lot going on. We are on the political terrain and I am the
target of many people for reasons I may come to know later.
"But anyone that reads that memo will see that I did not intend
it to be anything other than a private memo to the president. Secondly,
my advice or analysis or opinions were based on what I believe to be
the truth and what I think will advance the cause of the president.
There’s is nothing in that memo that is advancing the interest of Nasir
el-Rufai or even Kaduna State. It’s about Nigeria, the president’s
success and our party.
"Why would anyone take that memo and say I have any ill motive?
The reason I said in the memo that it would be misunderstood is because
of experience. As I said, I have been with the president since 2010,
and anytime I write anything and he discusses it with his inner circle,
they always say I am very ambitious.
"I have always been accused of having presidential ambition
since 2007. I have suffered from these accusations. The late President
Umaru Musa Yar’adua exiled me because of it; former President Goodluck
Jonathan tried to imprison me because everyone around him told him to
keep me busy or I would contest against you in 2015."