President Bola Tinubu has replaced Mallam Nasir El-Rufai, a former Ministerial nominee from Kaduna State, with Balarabe Abbas.
Senate President Godswill Akpabio announced this while reading a letter from the president on Tuesday.
In the letter, the president sought the confirmation of Abbas, Jamila Bio and Olawale Olawande.
While Bio and Olawande have been assigned portfolios of Minister of Youths and Minister of State for Youths respectively, none has been assigned to Abbas.
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The new nominee served as Secretary to the State government under El-Rufai. He also headed the transition committee of the state in 2015 and served as the vice-chairman of the committee in 2019.
He also led a 65-man transition committee for the swearing-in of Governor Uba Sani in 2023.
One-time minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), El-Rufai was one of the 48 persons nominated by President Tinubu as ministers in July.
His name emerged in the first batch of 28 nominees forwarded to the National Assembly for approval on July 27.
Daily Trust had reported how Sunday Karimi, senator representing Kogi west, presented a petition against el-Rufai during his screening.
Subsequently, the Senate withheld the confirmation of El-Rufai alongside Stella Okotete from Delta State and Senator Abubakar Sani from Taraba State, citing security clearance.
The news created mixed feelings, with sources saying the embarrassment made El-Rufai to withdraw his ministerial interest and subsequently fly out of the country.
