Mallam Nasir Ahmad El-Rufai, born on 16th February 1960, is a Nigerian politician who is the incumbent Governor of Kaduna State. He served as the Director-General of the Bureau of Public Enterprises, the head privatisation agency in Nigeria and also as Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, from 16 July 2003 to 29 May 2007. He is a member of All Progressives Congress (APC) and elected as the Executive Governor of Kaduna State during the 2015 general elections in Nigeria. His spell with the government began under the transition government of General Abdulsalami Abubakar, where he served as an adviser in the Transition government.
Nasir attended the prestigious Barewa College, where he graduated at the top of the class, winning the coveted “Barewa Old Boys’ Association Academic Achievement” Trophy in 1976. He went to Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, earning a Bachelor’s degree in Quantity Surveying with First Class Honors. He also attended post-graduate programs at Harvard Business School and Georgetown University. Since leaving public service, Nasir has completed an LL.B degree from the University of London, graduating in August 2008 with Second Class Honors, Upper Division, and a Master’s degree in Public Administration from the John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University, in June 2009.
Many people view El-Rufai as an incorruptible public servant who gets difficult jobs done, especially after he ordered the demolition of the house of the Chairman of the ruling party in Nigeria. The administration of President Umaru Yar’Adua appointed him to the National Energy Council in September 2007, due to the belief that he could contribute positively to the under-achieving power sector of the country. Nasir resigned the appointment in June 2008, and on 30 April and 7 May 2008, El-Rufai appeared before the Nigerian Senate Committee on Federal Capital Territory to explain some exposed and corrupt actions of his administration.
In the April 11, 2015 governorship election in Kaduna State, El-Rufai defeated the incumbent governor and candidate of the People’s Democratic Party, Mukhtar Yero. The election was upheld by the election petition tribunal in October 2015.
El-Rufai was sworn-in as the 22nd governor of Kaduna State on 29 May 2015. In his inaugural address, he announced that he and his deputy were taking a pay cut and donating 50 percent of their salaries and allowances 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 September 1st 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.
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. 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.
In January 2016, El-Rufai launched the School Feeding Program, 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 state, thereby removing a financial burden of N3 billion from the parents. Many Nigerians feel that Governor Nasir El-Rufai is one of the action governors in the country.
