Former Governor of Kaduna State, Nasir El-Rufai, has recounted how the late ex-President, Muhammadu Buhari, was misled to stop the initial plan to appoint Chief Audu Ogbeh as Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF).
Naijaonpoint reports that El-Rufai made this known on Monday while speaking at Ogbeh’s Night of Tribute, held at the Bola Tinubu International Conference Centre (ICC) in Abuja.
El-Rufai said shortly after the All Progressives Congress (APC) won the 2015 presidential election, a close friend who had worked for the party’s victory sought his help to secure the SGF position.
The Social Democratic Party (SDP) chieftain said he approached Buhari, then the president-elect, about the position, but he informed him of his decision to appoint a Christian from the Middle Belt to the top job.
El-Rufai recounted that Buhari later confided he had settled on Audu Ogbeh, describing him as his only choice for ....
According to him, the plan changed when some individuals around Buhari allegedly claimed that Ogbeh owed banks as much as ₦2 billion from his agricultural ventures and would be distracted by personal debts.
El-Rufai added that Buhari later admitted he had been misled and sought to make amends by appointing Ogbeh as Minister of Agriculture.
He said, “The next time the president called me, he said some things had come up and he was appointing someone else as SGF.
“After the announcement, I found out he had been told Chief Ogbeh owed a huge loan and would focus on repaying it instead of the job.
“Borrowing is not a crime; he runs a thriving farm and was servicing the loan.”
El-Rufai added that the conversation had remained private until the tribute event.
He said, “I’m saying this for the first time.”
Audu Ogbeh, a former national chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and farmer, served as Minister of Agriculture from 2015 to 2019.
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