Untold Story How Senate Dropped El-Rufai Minutes Before Clearance

The erstwhile governor of Kaduna State, Mallam Nasir El-Rufai, and the two other ministerial nominees were dropped within minutes of the confirmation by the Senate, GWG.ng reports.

El-Rufai, Ms Stella Okotete, the ministerial nominee from Delta State and Senator Danaldi Abubakar, the nominee from Taraba State were dropped from confirmation following two security reports sent to the Senate during the closed-door confirmation proceedings.

Following the screening and apology tendered by the last of the nominees, Mr Festus Keyamo, SAN, the Senate had resolved into a closed-door session during which issues raised against the 48 nominees were considered.

It was at that stage that two letters from the National Security Adviser, Mallam Nuhu Ribadu and the Director-General of the Department of State Services, DSS were slipped into the closed-door session to the President of the Senate, Senator Godswill Akpabio.

Akpabio, it was gathered, immediately relayed the information to the shocked senators.

As one senator said:

One of the sources said: “The NSA, Ribadu and the DG of DSS have just sent us letters not to clear El-Rufai, Senator Abubakar Danladi from Taraba and Stella Okotete from Delta. The Senate President just read it to us now at the closed-door session. He didn’t give it to us anyway.”

Another source said: “The letter from the NSA and DG DSS cited security reasons, saying the Senate should defer the confirmation of the trio for now, for national security. The senate president is holding the document sent to him tight and has not released it to anyone.”

The Senate decision to stop the confirmation of El-Rufai and the two others was done during the closed-door confirmation exercise which was within minutes of the clearance.

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