...pls delete

El-Rufai will never cease to amaze me.  He is not a reliable politician.  Now let us start from the beginning of his public life.  He was Chairman of PBE.  All the companies BPE sold were fraudulent.  None of the companies are functioning today.  They were all sold to cronies and the recent probe by the Senate shows the extent of corruption that characterized El-Rufai tenure at the BPE.  Now take when he was a Minister.  He allocated lands to his children, brothers, sisters and even unborn babies. thank God all his dubious allocations have now been cancelled.  He went ahead to demolish peoples home without allocating to them alternative houses.  Counterless people lost their lives, means of livelihood and their entire live investments.  These lands have now been allocated to cronies. When EFCC was after him for abuse of office, he started looking for a platform to jump.  Now when he lost out in the PDP arrangement, he jumped into the sinking boat of CPC. Now he think he can deceive Nigerians by his outburst and innuendos against PDP.   El-Rufai was part and parcel of PDP/Obasanjo administration that failed woefully to meet the Nigerian aspirations.  He now is casting aspersions because he lost out.  Don't be deceived, El-Rafi has nothing to offer.

here we go again thief calling Ole

happy fresh air

Was he not a PDP member?

the kettle calling the pot black, is the case of Mallam El Rufai or what does he call his name. He has now turned a critic of PDP after he participated in the criminal act of PDP. His case is like that of a patient who is nursing his wound, he needs a doctor to attend to his wound but the doctors are not ready to attend to him simply because he did not yield to caution. Now he is now currying for favour or sympathy. But he will not get it and Nigerians will not allow him to come again. He has been ousted out and it will remain like that. El Rufai has caused more harm than necessary, so he does not have the locus standi to say anything about PDP. Weather PDP is criminal or saint is not for El Rufai to decide. So let him clear his name before he starts to talk

el-rufai is just a big foooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooool, is he not part of people who help in destroying nigeria? am sure this guy is just seeking public attention at all cost. mumu boi.

Broken record!

why do we keep looking for evidence and proof that a politician embazled money during his term in office? Is it not obvious for all to see though we know they take special steps to cover up their acts. just get all of them and prosecute accordingly and stop searching hopelessly for evidence. we deceive ourselves so much in this country.

He was one of them,and he is still one of them,you will not surprise when he is campaigning in the next election on the platform of PDP.So El-rufai is a hardened Criminal

El ruffai ix sch a HYPOCRITE! xo its nw he knws tht PDP, d party of hs godfathr ix visionless? Coz hes no lngr thre abi? SMH

Just cos he's not a part of the current administration!!!

The last time I checked, PDP was formed in 1999. Nigeria's decay has been on for 50+ years. Anyone who really cares about Nigeria and wants change should stop talking about party and start addressing politicians one after the other. I will never take anyone serious who comes out talking about PDP. They are nothing but hypocrites trying to take advantage of the public. Most of the PDP members in Edo state have defected to ACN just because ACN is the ruling party. Does that now make them saints? It only shows there is no difference between ACN and PDP in Edo state or anywhere else. Ask anyone from Edo state who is on the ground and they will tell you one of the chief backers and sponsors of Oshiomole is the former governor, Lucky Igbinedion. That is how politics is in Nigeria. I saw Dino Melaye the other day complaining about Kogi governorship election as the ACN spokesman. This has become a circus.

Please those of us on Nairaland should stop talking PDP. PDP is not the problem of Nigeria. Nigerian politicians are the problem of Nigeria. If ACN or CPC become the ruling party today, the politicians will all shift and join that ruling party. So if you think changing the ruling party will change Nigeria's problem, you are deceiving yourself.

We must address our politicians one after the other and demand performance and accountability from them. Lets stop the partisan nonsense and attack the real problems. I feel sad for most of our so called youths who come here to comment. They are the real reason why the politicians can do what they like because they show from their posts that they are just partisan. El RUfai is a fool and a thief so he should shut his mouth and enjoy his loot.

dmainboss:

The last time I checked, PDP was formed in 1999. Nigeria's decay has been on for 50+ years. Anyone who really cares about Nigeria and wants change should stop talking about party and start addressing politicians one after the other. I will never take anyone serious who comes out talking about PDP. They are nothing but hypocrites trying to take advantage of the public. Most of the PDP members in Edo state have defected to ACN just because ACN is the ruling party. Does that now make them saints? It only shows there is no difference between ACN and PDP in Edo state or anywhere else. Ask anyone from Edo state who is on the ground and they will tell you one of the chief backers and sponsors of Oshiomole is the former governor, Lucky Igbinedion. That is how politics is in Nigeria. I saw Dino Melaye the other day complaining about Kogi governorship election as the ACN spokesman. This has become a circus.

Please those of us on Nairaland should stop talking PDP. PDP is not the problem of Nigeria. Nigerian politicians are the problem of Nigeria. If ACN or CPC become the ruling party today, the politicians will all shift and join that ruling party. So if you think changing the ruling party will change Nigeria's problem, you are deceiving yourself.

We must address our politicians one after the other and demand performance and accountability from them. Lets stop the partisan nonsense and attack the real problems. I feel sad for most of our so called youths who come here to comment. They are the real reason why the politicians can do what they like because they show from their posts that they are just partisan. El RUfai is a fool and a thief so he should shut his mouth and enjoy his loot.

True talk

el-rufai is not only a confused and morally bankrupt man, he is also unprincipled and a political prostitute. he cannot speak from both sides of the mouth when situation are not going well from. when he served under obasanjo Administration as a minister of FCT with the help of federal government quota,he enjoys all the goodies and privileges of government and his office to send his children to the best of university abroad and he didn't see any thing wrong with PDP. people like reuben obati who is far more enlightened than him and a social critics now know better that PDP is the best political and detribalised party in Nigeria today. those who are sharing the sentiment of this confused political LovePeddler should have a rethink because el-rufai may end up like atiku. PDP governors like akwa-ibom, enugu state governors and others deserved  resounding awards

Always said this about PDP -- Just ruining our country with their selfish ideas!  

Ignore this turn-coat, hypocrite,,,, he fails to find relevance in the present political dispensation and voila! The scales dropped from his bulgy greedy eyes and all of a sudden PDP is such a bad party, like the PDP was any better when he was a key part of it,

For the records I believe in second chances but a man like Mallam El-rufai must earn the right to a second chance from the Nigerian people,he must prove to the nigerian people that the same BPE chair/FCT overlord who grossly abused his office the PDP way to favor cronies has changed for real,and he sure as hell cannot achieve this by newspaper rantings at least not with me.

I wish GEJ will entice this man with a ministerial or ambassadorial appointment or any other nebulous creation by way of an appointment, Let's see/hear him reject this appointment then we know we can risk taking him serious.

For now he is just a spoilt kid who aint getting any more free candies!!!!abeg make I go drink beer jare *tumbles out*.

I am shocked at how Nigerians are buying into the northern agenda. This man is not after PDP, he served PDP & stole all he wanted when in office, he is just being used by the north to tarnish a southern President, who refused to look in his direction for appointment when he came back from exile. And besides, this man that paid his NYSC girl friend N1m every month as FCT minister, wants to run as CPC presidential candidate in 2015. Nothing wrong doing this but the hausas have failed Nigeria & have nothing positive to contribute but embarrassment. They have decided to put the pressure now, bomb everywhere & make Nigeria ungovernable to prevent the Ibos or the south from being president in 2015 & unfortunately, they will use the southerners to achieve their aim. We have forgotten so soon how these people grounded Nigeria & are today crying foul for not being president. This they should begin to learn, even though hard; that power have shifted & no intimidation or plots can reverse it. God is with Nigeria

The same old chorus, Party thieves cuts across all party its a matter of who do pass

El-Rufai knows he is one of the people that will be set ablaze when the revolution finally come,that's why he was trying to vindicate himself.

This same el rufai again, accusing pdp of profligacy, dis was paying his youth copper friend 2million naira every month at fct, this same man dt destroyed nitel, sold it at peanut to pentascope, demolishing houses in violation of court orders, his sins are many dt i cant mention, am only pitying pastor bakare who i know they wil use and dump, buhari has nothing to offer let him go and rest, i know el rufai is planning 4 2015 and bakare may be his vice, we are waiting for them.

The hypocrisy of El-Rufai has reached an alarming prportion. he has forgotten that he nd his friend Femi Fani Kayode were the the major henchmen and bullies of the PDP led Obasanjo administration.

- As BPE chairman most of the companies he privatized were done shadily. Till date he still has questions to answers as regards that.
- As FCT Minister he employed a female personal assistant who was paid N1,000,000 naira monthly. When he was questions as regards this, he claimed that because he is a harvard graduate she deserves the salary. Meanwhile others were paid amounts far below what this lady receives.
- What happened to proceeds from the sale of Federal Government houses in Abuja which he supervised.
- El-Rufai allocated PHCN lands to his wife and other choice lands to his friends and family. he was once asked why he keeps allocatining choice lands to his cronies his brahs replies was "when it gets to your turn lets see whether you would allocate to your enemies"
- This same government he is criticising made it possible for him to return home from exile. Remember during the Yar Adua regime he went into exile. When Goodluck Jonathan did not give him any appoitment he jumped to the CPC and all a sudden realized that PDP is a den of criminals.

We should not be deceived by his rantings.

the problem we are having in this country (Nigeria) is not in our leaders but its in our collective determination to fight them out. Until we act like lybians, egyptians and d syrians b4 this country will be a better place.

Indeed the same tongue that sings hossana will shout crucify. When he was happily riding with the criminal bunch he didnt know they were out to ruin the country . What a waste of Harvard education.

abeg rufai make we hear word, NA now you know?

EL-RUFAI SPEECH TO THE SENATE : YOU ASKED FOR BRIBE


October 6, 2003


I want to thank the Senate of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, through you Mr. Chairman and members of your Committee for its resolution to investigate the allegation published in some national newspapers that a couple of Senators demanded money from me, to facilitate my clearance as a ministerial nominee. The Senate has by its resolution displayed great courage and given the people of this country hope that our country is indeed turning the corner of the perception of a corrupt nation where anything goes. The Senate has also voted overwhelmingly in support of transparency in public affairs and upholding the democratic principles of openness and fair hearing. Once again, I thank you distinguished Senators.
Let me start Mr. Chairman with a clear statement of my respect for institutions in general and the National Assembly in particular. I have spent all my years in public life lamenting the collapse of our institutions, and I will be the last person to disrespect the Senate or the House of Representatives. Indeed, as some Senators and the President, the Vice President and the Governor of my home state, Kaduna know, sometime in 2001, I actually had discussions with them to run for legislative office in 2003. I would not have considered that, if I thought that the legislature is not an institution worthy of serving, and building. Instead, it was my destiny to remain and build the Bureau of Public Enterprises into an institution that even international organizations and our detractors have acclaimed for professionalism, competence and integrity, until I was privileged to be nominated as a Minister by Mr. President.
Permit me to recall, Mr. Chairman, that the Senate blazed the trail in the war against corruption by passing the Independent Corrupt Practices Act in 2001, and had the singular courage of investigating its members in the past. These are actions worthy of respect and recognition.
It is important Mr. Chairman, to make this point to differentiate between my disappointment with the conduct of two members of the National Assembly, and my respect for the legislature. In the Senate, there are two former Vice Chancellors of my alma mater, Ahmadu Bello University, Professors Iya Abubakar and Daniel Saror, impeccable role models, and Barewa Old Boys like Dr. Dalhatu Sarki Tafida, and Professor Jibril Aminu. There are several others, including Senators Udo Udoma and Victor Oyofo, and my brother Senator Amah Iwuagwu, (with whom I worked together for General Abdulsalam Abubakar’s government to design and supervise the transition programme, which led to this republic), and others too numerous to mention. It will be a wild contradiction in law and fact to impute any disrespect to the Senate from the statement I make here today. Indeed, it is because I greatly respect the Senate and believe that our Senators are honourable and distinguished persons, that I felt the need to bring into the public domain, acts unbecoming of members of this Upper House.
Let me now go into the circumstances leading to the publication of the allegation. As part of our enlightenment programme on the President’s Vision to Retrieve the Abuja Master Plan, we had intensive interaction with several journalists. Some spent hours with me and my staff talking about the vision, and visited many sites within the Federal Capital Territory. I gave several interviews, and the quesiton was raised about how many people think that my boss, the Vice President, made money as the supervisor of the privatization programme, and how I must have facilitated it. I explained the impossibility of that happening due to the well-applauded transparency of our programme and its inherent checks and balances. This led me to relate a personal story which had disturbed and caused me great distress. This personal story was reported in the papers, and it has been my lot to handle the intended and unintended consequences flowing therefrom. I believe strongly that God has a reason for making this personal experience public at this time and for bringing us here today.
In June 2003, the President nominated me for appointment as a Minister. The President asked me to meet with as many Senators as possible to ease the process of screening. This I did, and many of you are aware that I made efforts by telephone and personal visits. It was a time when many Senators had not moved into official residences but I tried to see as many, and talk to as many distinguished Senators as possible. It was gratifying that many Senators felt that there was no need for me and many of my colleagues to go to the length we did to present ourselves to the Senate. It was a very enriching experience for me personally, as I moved from my comfort zone of a technocrat, to that of a potential politician.
The Vice President departed for a trip shortly after the announcement of the nominees, but left a message that I should meet with the Deputy Senate President Alhaji Ibrahim Mantu and other principal officers of the Senate. Though I did not get the Vice President’s message, a distinguished elder brother also reached me and communicated the same message. During my BPE days, I enjoyed excellent relations with Senator Mantu, who had at various times introduced businessmen and party members to me with interests to purchase shares in the Abuja Sofitel, and some other companies. We handled all the introductions in accordance with laid down procedures of the National Council on Privatization. Whenever we met, Senator Mantu used to comment on my youth and claimed to have told the president that he felt that I had the wisdom of Solomon without the age of Methuselah. I would naturally say then that Senator Mantu would support my nomination. However, trying to contact him as advised, I observed that he became evasive. And after several attempts and missed appointments, when I caught up with him in his office, I waited for over 6 hours with a former Senator without having a meeting with him. During this period, I was fortunate to meet or speak with most of the other principal officers, except for Senators Tafida and Zwingina, who were abroad.
With the intervention of several ex-Senators, I finally met with Senator Mantu in his house, and he assured us of his support but pointed out that some detractors were bent on blocking my nomination. He was quite specific about who these detractors were, and how he had been asked by "the Villa" to nominate a replacement for me due to the unlikelihood of my being cleared. None of what the Senator said was believable but I went along, since he then promised to apply his skills at scuttling the effort of these "detractors." Several meetings over a couple of weeks with the screening dates and schedules being shifted over and over, I was visited by an individual who said that I needed to meet Senator Zwingina who had just returned from a trip to South Africa. I was taken to Senator Zwingina’s house in Asokoro for the first time, on July 6, 2003.
We had a brief meeting with Senator Zwigina, who suggested that we drive to Senator Mantu’s house. We met Senator Mantu who restated that in spite of his best efforts, I still had serious problems, and my detractors had recruited many Senators to block my nomination. He added that he brought Zwingina into the picture to counter their move, and that the two of them were "expert" in these matters. However, he added that money would be needed to recruit an army of Senators to act as my defenders, and stated that about N54 million would be needed to secure the support of a minority of senators excluding four or five senators that he was sure would vote for me without payment, and making allowance for absenteeism. He added that many Senators felt I had made money as DG of BPE and should therefore cough out part of it now.
Senator Zwingina added that Senators also felt that I would be difficult to get much from, once I became Minister, and it was safer to have something up-front. I explained that I did not believe in paying for any job, which in any case, was likely to be a difficult and thankless one and have never had such money. I reiterated that I made no money in BPE, and was actually indebted to a couple of people. He added that he was aware that I was being posted to FCT where the sale of a single plot by the Minister would make up for the "investment." I tried without success to convince them of the impossibility of what they are requesting, while they advised that I go and think about it. They were passionate about the opportunities I would miss if I fail to scale the screening, and I was adamant that I could not do what they asked. We parted on this unhappy note.
Corruption is an interesting concept that I have observed over the years. As a professional in the construction industry, I have faced situations of offers and demands for bribery for twenty years. I have during these years strove to maintain my honour and integrity. Not once in my career as a private and public sector technocrat, have I been found to desire what is neither legitimate nor due to me. I have never and will never compromise on the issue of corruption. The few instances that we came across in BPE, we dealt with decisively and relentlessly.
This is my story. This happened between the three of us. No one else was present except God Almighty, and no one else made any demand of me except these two Senators. I immediately shared my ordeal with the available authorities as the president was away on a trip, and also with my inner circle of friends. Naturally, I was disappointed, disturbed and outraged.
Nobody invites witnesses to demand a bribe. Corruption situations are best understood in terms of power dynamics. In allegations of corruption therefore, the question to ask is who has the power to extort? Who would want to part with his legitimate earnings unless a gun is placed on his head? Why would I relate this story if it did not happen? Why would I pick on two Senators out of 109? In what way do they constitute an impediment to my current position or well-being? Why should I have entered details of my meetings on 6th July 2003 with Senators Mantu and Zwingina in my Activities Record Book if same did not occur as recorded?
Since this story broke out, I have personally maintained my silence on the subject while other corroborating and circumstantial evidence have been unearthed. Those who think I have no "strong proof," that it will in the end, amount to my word against theirs, I wish to remind that it is evidence that leads to proof, and that both the Senate and the Nigerian society are not gullible, but intelligent and discerning.
Finally, Mr. Chairman, permit me to make a few remarks in response to some of the speculations and statements in the media on this subject over the last two weeks or so.
Furthermore, attempting to blackmail the President and the Vice president by widening the theatre of disagreement – suggesting that I was recruited to make the allegation to spoil the existing cordial relations between the executive and legislature is even more pathetic. The misconduct of two Senators out of 109, and an allegation by one minister (for now) out of 40 is not reflective of the reality on ground. Finally, this is nothing personal. I have had no prior negative relationship or ill-will towards any of the Senators mentioned. Trivializing the situation and diverting attention from the investigation are unhelpful, and the Senate should remain focused and not waver. I am grateful to the President and Vice president for affording me the opportunity to serve this administration, and I will give up my life in the defence of their honour and integrity. Those that attempt to smear them should carefully weigh the consequences because I intend to see this to a logical conclusion.
I have been counseled by many of my friends and well wishers that desperate people do desperate things. My life has already been threatened, hints that the FCT will receive zero allocation have been passed and a forensic audit of my tenure at BPE is being undertaken. None of these is new or unexpected even from my previous job. With the support of God, the president and Vice President, my colleagues in the Federal Executive Council, as well as the prayers of ordinary Nigerians who are tired of the hypocrisy and corruption of some of our elite, I am ready for any eventualities.
I understand the great risk I took by this action, but it has to be done and somebody had to do it, for the integrity of our Senate, our administration and our country. My generation in all spheres of our society, traversing the membership of the current National Assembly, the public service, the private sector, and civil society are sick and tired of pretentious public officers, brazenly corrupt and having the audacity to point fingers in other directions. We are tired of people who equate politics with open corruption, and who think that the way to obscure and bury the truth is to ethnicize, regionalize or politicize it or rope other people through blackmail and intimidation. I stand before you as a citizen of Nigeria, and say I have nothing to hide. My life, my bank accounts, my assets, my liabilities and my record of service both in public and private sectors, are an open book, and I challenge those I have mentioned to offer themselves to the same level of scrutiny. Afterall, we are all public officers and subject to the Code of Conduct.
Mr. Chairman, distinguished Senators, I hope my statement will assist you in the discharge of the onerous assignment given to you by the Senate. Let me avail myself of this sitting to thank you immensely for giving me the opportunity to tell you my side of the story. I wish you success in your assignment and tenure in the Senate.
God bless you all, the National Assembly and the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
Mr. Chairman, distinguished Senators, I thank you very much.


Nasir Ahmad el-Rufai, OFR.

He was in government when he made this speech. You can criticize him all you like but he is better than that slow poke occupying Aso Rock now.