By Chimaobi Afiauwa, Abuja
President Bola Tinubu has nominated the Secretary to the Kaduna State Government, Abbas Balarabe for a ministerial position.
Balarabe would serve as a replacement for the former Kaduna Governor, Nasir El-Rufai, whose nomination could not be confirmed by the Senate.
This was made known in a letter read by the Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, at the plenary on Tuesday.
The Punch reports that Balarabe’s name was read alongside Dr. Jamila Ibrahaim and Ayodele Olawande as Minister of Youths and Minister of State for Youths, respectively, who were earlier nominated by the president.
Recall that in August, El-Rufai’s name was conspicuously missing from the list of ministerial nominees confirmed by the Senate.
The non-confirmation of his nomination followed several petitions against him, many of which cited his handling of the security challenges in Kaduna State when he held sway as governor.
Senator Sunday Karimi (APC, Kogi West) had championed the petition and, during the ministerial screening, moved a motion for the non-confirmation of El-Rufai’s ministerial appointment.
President Tinubu’s push for his confirmation could not yield results, as the former Kaduna governor opted to travel to the United Kingdom for a postgraduate degree while recommending that the president appoint a replacement.
