Chief of Staff: I haven’t had discussion with Tinubu — El-Rufai

Governor Nasir El-Rufai of Kaduna might have put to rest the question of whether he will be Chief of Staff to Bola Tinubu saying, “I am not going to be any Chief of Staff to the president-elect”.

According to him, he would rather want to be a key player in the private sector where he will offer useful counsel to whoever is interested.

The Kaduna governor made this known during the commissioning of the Gombe Geographic Information Systems service centre, in Gombe on Saturday.

He said, “I will be leaving in 22 days, but I will be available anytime you need a troublemaker. I will be in the private sector, I’m not going to be any chief of staff. I will take a break and advice people like governor Inuwa Yahaya, if they need it.”

Speaking further, he noted “I have not had the discussion with the president-elect and I don’t want to speculate. I read on the pages of newspapers and I see all kinds of portfolios assigned to me.

“I’m a committed Nigerian and I want to see my country make progress and whatever I can do to contribute to the development I will, but I don’t have to do it working in the government.

“People working in the private sector or civil society are contributing their own one way or the other, to the growth and development of our country. I will never stop working for Nigeria’s progress.”