Arewa Youth Call for Confirmation of  El-Rufai

The Arewa Youth Consultative Forum (AYCF) has called on security agencies to instantly clear Nasir El-Rufai, a ministerial nominee of President Bola Tinubu.

The former Governor of Kaduna State is among the 48 nominees the president sent to the senate for screening. However, El-rufai is yet to be confirmed along with two other nominees.

The Youth in a statement by its president, Yerima Shettima has warned that their patience should not be tested by refusing to confirm the former governor.

The group lamented over the humiliation northern Nigeria has been put into by the singular act of differing El-Rufai ‘s nomination.

The statement read in part, “We regret to note that the targeting of Nasir El-Rufai for such irreverent treatment is part of a wider agenda being pursued by certain dubious political interests to deny the north and the younger generation of Nigerians fair representation in the coming cabinet.

“It is suspicious that El-Rufai, who is among the best, if not the best of all the names submitted by the President should be among the only three that could not be confirmed without justifiable reasons.

“We consider it deceptive for the Senate to give security checks as the reason for not confirming El-Rufai because it is common knowledge that the ministerial nomination list passed through security scrutiny before getting to the Senate.

“At the risk of overstating the case, we can boldly say that El-Rufai, Hannatu Musawa, Bello Matawalle and Festus Keyamo are by far the best representation of the young generation of Nigerians included in the list.

“It will therefore amount to unwarranted provocation to Kaduna State, to the North and to the Nigerian youth for El-Rufai not to be confirmed for flimsy considerations,” Shettima said.