Nasir Ahmad el-Rufai

Nasir Ahmad El-Rufai was born on February 16, 1960 to a Fulani 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.[3] El-Rufai was educated in Barewa College. As a junior at the college, President Umaru Yar'Adua was the house captain of his dormitory.[4] In 1976, he graduated at the top of his class, winning the "Barewa Old Boys' Association Academic Achievement" Trophy.[5]

He then proceeded to Ahmadu Bello University in Zaria, where he received a bachelor's degree in quantity surveying with first class honours.[6] In 1984, he received a Master of Business Administration from Harvard Business School. El Rufai has attended several professional and post-graduate programs, including the Georgetown School of Foreign Service of Georgetown University in Washington, D.C.[7]

El-Rufai is married to three wives, including writer and novelist Hadiza Isma El-Rufai. Together, they run the Yasmin El-Rufai Foundation (YELF), set up in honour of his daughter who died in 2011.[8]

El-Rufai tested positive for COVID-19 on March 28 2020, following contact with an index case.[9] He has placed a curfew in Kaduna State and restricted movement, to prevent the spread of the virus.[10]

In November 1999, he was appointed the director of the Bureau of Public Enterprises, and secretary of the National Council of Privatisation where he spearheaded the privatisation of several government owned corporations alongside Vice President Atiku Abubakar.[15]

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.[16] 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.[17]

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.[18] At various times during his tenure as Minister, he oversaw the Federal Ministries of Commerce (twice) and Interior.[19] He also chaired several high-profile cabinet committees that led to the establishment of a mortgage system in Nigeria,[20] National ID card system for Nigeria,[21] Electric Power Supply Improvement and the sale of Federal Government real estate in Abuja.[22]

During the last days of the Obasanjo administration, Nuhu Ribadu, a one-time El-Rufai ally described him as the "de facto No. 2 official",[23] 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.[24]

In 2008, following Umaru Yar'Adua rise to power, El-Rufai went into self-imposed exile and became a vocal critic of the administration. In exile, he received a law degree from the University of London in August 2008, and a master's degree in public administration from the John F. Kennedy School of Government of Harvard University 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.[25]

In 2010, he returned to Nigeria and was subsequently arrested by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission. He explained his return was in order to clear his name of corruption charges.[26] El-Rufai later joined party politics with the Congres for Progressive Change supporting Muhammadu Buhari's campaign in the 2011 presidential election. In 2013, El-Rufai was appointed deputy national secretary of the newly formed All Progressives Congress (APC).[27]