Nasir Ahmad el-Rufai
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Nasir Ahmad El-Rufai (born 16 February 1960) is a Nigerian politician who is the Governor of Kaduna State, in office since 2015. He was the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory from 2003 to 2007; and the director of the
Bureau of Public Enterprises The Bureau Of Public Enterprises (BPE) serves as the secretariat of the National Council on Privatisation The National Council on Privatization (NCP) is a think tank sponsored by the Nigerian government to determine the political, economic and soci ...
. He is a founding member of the ruling
All Progressives Congress The All Progressives Congress (APC) is one of the two major contemporary political parties in Nigeria, along with the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). Founded on 6 February 2013 from a merger of Nigeria's three largest opposition parties, the ...
.


Family

Nasir Ahmad El-Rufai was born on 16 February 1960 to a
Fulani The Fula, Fulani, or Fulɓe people ( ff, Fulɓe, ; french: Peul, links=no; ha, Fulani or Hilani; pt, Fula, links=no; wo, Pël; bm, Fulaw) are one of the largest ethnic groups in the Sahel and West Africa, widely dispersed across the region. ...
family in Daudawa. His father died while he was 8 years old, and he was sponsored through his early schooling by an uncle in
Kaduna Kaduna is the capital city of Kaduna State, and the former political capital of Northern Region, Nigeria, Northern Nigeria. It is located in north-western Nigeria, on the Kaduna River. It is a trade Centre and a major transportation hub as the ...
. El-Rufai is married to three wives, his first wife
Hadiza Isma El-Rufai Hadiza Isma El-Rufai (; born 21 June 1960) is a Nigerian writer (novelist), and wife to the former governor of Kaduna State, Mallam Nasir El-Rufai. She was the founder of Yasmin El-rufai Foundation (YELF), a non-profit literary organization. B ...
is a writer and novelist; together, they run the Yasmin El-Rufai Foundation (YELF), set up in honour of their daughter who died in 2011.


Education

El-Rufai was educated in
Barewa College Barewa College is a college in Zaria, Kaduna State, northern Nigeria. Founded in 1921 by British Governor General Hugh Clifford, it was originally known as Katsina College. It switched its name to Kaduna College in 1938 and to Government College, ...
. As a junior at the college,
President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) *President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ful ...
Umaru Yar'Adua Umaru Musa Yar'Adua (16 August 19515 May 2010) was a Nigerian politician who, was the President of Nigeria from 2007 to 2010. He was declared the winner of the Nigerian presidential election held on 21 April 2007, and was sworn in on 29 May 20 ...
was the house captain of his dormitory. In 1976, he graduated at the top of his class, winning the "Barewa Old Boys' Association Academic Achievement" Trophy. El-Rufai attended
Ahmadu Bello University Ahmadu Bello University Zaria is a federal government research university in Zaria, Kaduna State, Nigeria. ABU was founded on 4 October 1962, as the pioneer university in Northern Nigeria. It was founded and named after the Sardauna of Sokoto, Al ...
in
Zaria Zaria is a metropolitan city in Nigeria which at the present time lies within four (4) local government areas in Kaduna state; it happens to be the capital city to the Zazzau Emirate Council, and one of the original seven Hausa city-states ...
, where he received a
bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Middle Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate academic degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six ...
in
quantity surveying A quantity surveyor (QS) is a construction industry professional with expert knowledge on construction costs and contracts. Qualified professional quantity surveyors are known as Chartered Surveyors (Members and Fellows of RICS) in the UK and Cer ...
with first class honours. In 1984, he received a
Master of Business Administration A Master of Business Administration (MBA; also Master's in Business Administration) is a postgraduate degree focused on business administration. The core courses in an MBA program cover various areas of business administration such as accounti ...
from Ahmadu Bello University. He has since attended several professional and post-graduate programs, including the Georgetown School of Foreign Service of
Georgetown University Georgetown University is a private university, private research university in the Georgetown (Washington, D.C.), Georgetown neighborhood of Washington, D.C. Founded by Bishop John Carroll (archbishop of Baltimore), John Carroll in 1789 as Georg ...
in
Washington, D.C ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...
and programs on privatization and leadership. In August 2008 he received a
law degree A law degree is an academic degree conferred for studies in law. Such degrees are generally preparation for legal careers. But while their curricula may be reviewed by legal authority, they do not confer a license themselves. A legal license is gra ...
from the
University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in post-nominals) is a federal public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The university was established by royal charter in 1836 as a degree ...
; and a
master's degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is an academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice.
in
public administration Public Administration (a form of governance) or Public Policy and Administration (an academic discipline) is the implementation of public policy, administration of government establishment (public governance), management of non-profit establ ...
from the
John F. Kennedy School of Government The Harvard Kennedy School (HKS), officially the John F. Kennedy School of Government, is the school of public policy and government of Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The school offers master's degrees in public policy, public ...
of
Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...
in June 2009. He also received the Kennedy School Certificate in Public Policy and Management having spent 11 months as an Edward A. Mason Fellow in Public Policy and Management from July 2008 to June 2009.


Professional career

In 1982, he founded El-Rufai & Partners, a quantity surveying consulting firm with three partners which he managed until 1998. During the military juntas of 1983–1998, the firm received building and civil engineering contracts including during the construction of
Abuja Abuja () is the capital and eighth most populous city of Nigeria. Situated at the centre of the country within the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), it is a planned city built mainly in the 1980s based on a master plan by International Plann ...
, making the partners "young millionaires". In addition to his practice, El-Rufai held management positions with two international telecommunications companies,
AT&T AT&T Inc. is an American multinational telecommunications holding company headquartered at Whitacre Tower in Downtown Dallas, Texas. It is the world's largest telecommunications company by revenue and the third largest provider of mobile tel ...
Network Systems International BV and
Motorola Inc Motorola, Inc. () was an American multinational telecommunications company based in Schaumburg, Illinois, United States. After having lost $4.3 billion from 2007 to 2009, the company split into two independent public companies, Motorola ...
.


Early political career

In 1998, following the death of military head of state General
Sani Abacha Sani Abacha (20 September 1943 – 8 June 1998) was a Nigerian military officer and politician who ruled as the military head of state of Nigeria from 1993 until his death in 1998. He seized power on 17 November 1993 in the last successful c ...
, his successor General
Abdulsalami Abubakar Abdulsalami Abubakar (; born 13 June 1942) is a Nigerian statesman and retired Nigerian Army general who served as the ''de facto'' President of Nigeria from 1998 to 1999. He was also Chief of Defence Staff between 1997 and 1998. He succeede ...
appointed El-Rufai as an economic advisor. In this role he worked with the
World Bank The World Bank is an international financial institution that provides loans and grants to the governments of low- and middle-income countries for the purpose of pursuing capital projects. The World Bank is the collective name for the Interna ...
and
International Monetary Fund The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is a major financial agency of the United Nations, and an international financial institution, headquartered in Washington, D.C., consisting of 190 countries. Its stated mission is "working to foster globa ...
. In 1999, the military transferred power to President
Olusegun Obasanjo Chief Olusegun Matthew Okikiola Ogunboye Aremu Obasanjo, , ( ; yo, Olúṣẹ́gun Ọbásanjọ́ ; born 5 March 1937) is a Nigerian political and military leader who served as Nigeria's head of state from 1976 to 1979 and later as its pres ...
. In November 1999, he was appointed the director of the
Bureau of Public Enterprises The Bureau Of Public Enterprises (BPE) serves as the secretariat of the National Council on Privatisation The National Council on Privatization (NCP) is a think tank sponsored by the Nigerian government to determine the political, economic and soci ...
, and secretary of the National Council of Privatisation where he spear-headed the privatisation of several government owned corporations alongside Vice President
Atiku Abubakar Atiku is a given name and surname. It may refer to: Given name *Atiku Abubakar (born 1946), Nigerian politician and businessman, Vice President of Nigeria from 1999 to 2007 *Atikur Rahman Mallik, Bangladeshi film editor Middle name *Abubakar Atiku ...
.


Minister of the Federal Capital Territory

In July 2003, he was appointed the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory. During his tenure, he presided over a radical transformation of the federal capital earlier riddled with corruption and vast deviation from the original masterplan. With the establishment of the Abuja Geographic Information System, the capital became the first municipality in Nigeria with a computerised land register and information system. Along with the President and members of the Economic Management Team, he led the reform of the Nigerian public service which had become dysfunctional during years of military dictatorship. At various times during his tenure as Minister, he oversaw the Federal Ministries of Commerce (twice) and Interior. He also chaired several high-profile cabinet committees that led to the establishment of a mortgage system in Nigeria, National ID card system for Nigeria, Electric Power Supply Improvement and the sale of Federal Government real estate in Abuja. During the last days of the Obasanjo administration,
Nuhu Ribadu Mallam Nuhu Ribadu mni (born 21 November, 1960) is a former Nigerian police officer and politician who was the Chairman of the Petroleum Revenue Task Force and a former Nigerian government anti-corruption official. He was the pioneer Executive ...
, a one-time El-Rufai ally described him as the "de facto No. 2 official", tagging him with the role of Vice President, especially after the fall-out between Obasanjo and his vice president Atiku Abubakar. It is believed that Obasanjo's trust and confidence in El-Rufai angered a vast majority of the political class, which would later persecute him.


Exile

In 2008, El-Rufai went into self-imposed exile and became a vocal critic of the
Umaru Yar'Adua Umaru Musa Yar'Adua (16 August 19515 May 2010) was a Nigerian politician who, was the President of Nigeria from 2007 to 2010. He was declared the winner of the Nigerian presidential election held on 21 April 2007, and was sworn in on 29 May 20 ...
administration.


Politics

In 2010, he returned to Nigeria and was subsequently arrested by the
Economic and Financial Crimes Commission The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) is a Nigerian law enforcement agency that investigates financial crimes such as advance fee fraud (419 fraud) and money laundering. The EFCC was established in 2003, partially in response to pre ...
(EFCC). He explained his return was in order to clear his name of corruption charges. In 2011, el-Rufai joined party politics with the
Congress for Progressive Change The Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) was a political party founded in Nigeria in 2009 in preparation for the April 2011 elections. It was the 63rd political party to be founded in the country. In February 2013, the party merged with the A ...
supporting
Muhammadu Buhari Muhammadu Buhari (born 17 December 1942) is a Nigerian politician and current president of Nigeria since 2015. Buhari is a retired Nigerian Army major general who served as the country's military head of state from 31 December 1983 to 27 Au ...
's campaign in the 2011 presidential election. In 2013, el-Rufai was appointed deputy national secretary of the newly formed
All Progressives Congress The All Progressives Congress (APC) is one of the two major contemporary political parties in Nigeria, along with the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). Founded on 6 February 2013 from a merger of Nigeria's three largest opposition parties, the ...
(APC). In 2014, El-Rufai declared his campaign for Governor of Kaduna State, contesting the APC governorship primaries to emerged as the party's candidate for Governor of Kaduna State. He went on to win the governorship election, with over one million votes to defeat the incumbent Governor Mukhtar Ramalan Yero the candidate of the
People's Democratic Party People's Democratic Party or ''variant thereof'', could refer to: * People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan *People's Democratic Party (Belize) *People's Democratic Party (Bhutan) *People's Democratic Party (Chile) * People's Democratic Party (Dom ...
. In 2018, he again emerged as the APC's governorship candidate. He was re-elected on 9 March 2019, defeating his closest rival by over 200,000 votes.


Governor of Kaduna State

On 29 May 2015, El-Rufai was sworn in as the 22nd Governor of Kaduna State. In his inaugural address, he declared that he and his deputy were cutting their allowances by half pending an improvement in the state's fiscal situation. On 6 August 2015, El-Rufai in one of his first acts as governor announced that Kaduna State will adopt the Treasury Single Account policy by 1 September of the same year. At the end of the exercise, 470 accounts belonging to different ministries, departments and agencies were closed and a sum of N24.7 billion was recovered and remitted to the Kaduna State Government TSA with the
Central Bank of Nigeria The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) is the central bank and apex monetary authority of Nigeria established by the CBN Act of 1958 and commenced operations on 1 July 1959. The major regulatory objectives of the bank as stated in the CBN Act are ...
. By blocking leakages and cutting the cost of running government, it is estimated that the El-Rufai administration was able to save N1.2 billion in just two months. El-Rufai also reformed the civil service in Kaduna State and reduced the number of ministries from 19 to 13 and the number of permanent secretaries from 35 to 18. In a bid to reduce the cost of governance, El-Rufai appointed only 13 commissioners, 10 special advisers and 12 special assistants as against the 24 commissioners, 41 special advisers and about 400 special assistants appointed by the previous administration. As governor, El-Rufai has embarked on a comprehensive education reform with the goal of revamping the moribund state of education. El-Rufai sacked over 22,000 unqualified primary teachers. El-Rufai's administration launched the School Feeding Programme, aimed at providing one free meal per day to 1.5 million pupils in public primary schools within the state. He also abolished the collection of fees and levies in public primary and junior secondary schools in Kaduna, thereby removing a financial burden of N3 billion from the parents. On 28 March 2020, El-Rufai tested positive for
COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was COVID-19 pandemic in Hubei, identified in Wuhan, China, in December ...
, following contact with an index case. He has placed a curfew in Kaduna State and restricted movement, to prevent the spread of the virus. On 20 August 2020, Controversy arose on social media when the
Nigerian Bar Association The Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) is a non-profit, umbrella professional association of all lawyers admitted to the bar in Nigeria. It is engaged in the promotion and protection of human rights, the rule of law and good governance in Nigeria. T ...
invited Governor El-rufai to speak at its annual conference. Thousands of Nigerians signed a petition on change.org to have Governor El-rufai's invitation revoked. The NBA succumbed to the pressure and disinvited the governor. A report by Open Bar initiative cited eight reasons why El-rufai's invitation to the general conference was turned down. Some of the reasons include his refusal to obey court orders in his case with
Audu Maikori Audu Maikori (born 13 August 1975 in Kaduna) is a Nigerian lawyer, entrepreneur, social activist, public speaker and creative industry expert. He is the co-founder and Executive Vice Chairman of the Chocolate City Group the mother company of le ...
, threatening Gloria Ballason who was Maikori's lawyer and a report by
Quartz (publication) ''Quartz'' is an online news platform in English. It is focused on international business news. Quartz is privately held and was established in New York City in 2012. It is published in the United States with global business news and has specifi ...
Africa which named Governor El-rufai as the head of a "powerful" group of Nigerian governors who "now regularly use security agents to arrest and intimidate journalists who dare to question their actions or attempt to hold them accountable". El Rufai grant pardon to 12 prisoners in Kaduna State, 10 of whom were nearing the end of their sentences, some of the pardons were also granted due to age. Additionally he reduced one prisoners death sentence to life in prison.


Human Rights Concerns

In December 2021, a human rights watchdog group published a report alleging that El-Rufai has punished protestors in Kaduna State. The report details two incidents in which El-Rufai responded to protests by putting the protesting community under house arrest. The first of these lockdown orders was in December 2016 in Jema'a Local Government area and the second stretched 72 days starting in June 2020. The report says that eleven villagers were killed in the 2016 lockdown. The report lists a number of attacks that happened during the 2020 lockdown and alleges that a total of about 120 villagers were killed at that time. The report also states that El-Rufai has punished protestors with these lockdown orders at least six times since the first incident in 2016 and goes on to document El-Rufai's large wealth as evidenced by his and his family's wide international travels, extravagant lifestyle, and the fact that he sends one of his sons to a private boarding school in Canada where tuition runs about $44,000 USD per year. The report concludes by calling for international governments to sanction El-Rufai for his actions. These reports add to concerns by human rights organizations that El-Rufai may not respect the human rights of the people in Kaduna state. In October 2021 he resurrected the Religious Preaching Edict of 1984 to create the Interfaith Preaching Regulatory Council. This state body has the authority to approve or deny religious leaders the right to lead and can disapprove the content of their sermons and messages. “Anyone who… begins to preach without authorization, will be liable to pay a fine and may even be imprisoned,” El-Rufai said in a radio interview after imposing the new regulation. According to one human rights watchdog group, "El-Rufai is pitching this as a measure to reduce religiously fueled violence, uthe himself has a troubling history of fueling religious tension." The watchdog group then cites how El-Rufai claimed, in a tweet posted on September 8, 2014, that Christians were behind Boko Haram, funding and controlling it to tarnish the name of Islam. Boko Haram is not funded by Christians but is an Islamist terror group with strong ties to Islamic State. In 2012, El-Rufai threatened anyone who might challenge the Fulani, an ethnic group, even in the line of military duty. “We will write this for all to read. Anyone, soldier or not that kills the Fulani takes a loan payable one day no matter how long it takes,” he tweeted. In 2019, El-Rufai said, in reference to a conspiracy theory that election observers were meddling in the Nigerian election, that "the person who will come and intervene...will go back in body bags because nobody will come to Nigeria and tell us how to run our country"


Award

In October 2022, a Nigerian national honour of
Commander of the Order of the Niger Nigeria became an independent country on 1 October 1960 and in 1963 became the Federal Republic of Nigeria. The republic instituted two orders of merit: the Order of the Niger and the Order of the Federal Republic. Award The two highest honour ...
(CON) was conferred on him by President
Muhammadu Buhari Muhammadu Buhari (born 17 December 1942) is a Nigerian politician and current president of Nigeria since 2015. Buhari is a retired Nigerian Army major general who served as the country's military head of state from 31 December 1983 to 27 Au ...
.


See also

* List of Governors of Kaduna State


References


External links


''This Day'' (Lagos) on el-Rufai, 20 August 2005''BBC'' on Nasir el-Rufai, 7 September 2004

''Nigeria Top Politics,'' /Facts on our politicians
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rufai, Nasir Ahmad el- 1960 births Living people Alumni of the University of London Ministers of the Federal Capital Territory (Nigeria) Harvard Kennedy School staff Ahmadu Bello University alumni Peoples Democratic Party (Nigeria) politicians Federal ministers of Nigeria Harvard Kennedy School alumni All Progressives Congress politicians Barewa College alumni Governors of Kaduna State Georgetown University alumni Politicians from Kaduna State Candidates in the 2015 Nigerian general election Quantity surveyors Mason Fellows