I had a phone call with the Somali international referee, Omar Artan, who is unable to participate in officiating at the 2026 @FIFAcom World Cup, and I shared with him our feelings regarding the challenge he has faced. Omar is a symbol of our people and country's great potential
Omar Artan didn’t just make the #FIFAWorldCup, he made history as the first Somali referee to get there, and as #Africa’s best. That milestone stands no matter what. So sorry to see this, Omar. You reached the summit of your profession and inspired a generation back home just by getting there, and being kept off the pitch you earned doesn’t change that. This won’t be the end of your story on the world stage. The world stands with you as one family, wishing you resilience now and many more major finals to come. Solidarity. #Somalia
Update I: Two days ago, I announced the facilitation of extra blocks of classrooms in three public schools in Kaduna North Federal Constituency. I am pleased to announce that the construction of the block of classrooms in Government Secondary School, Unguwar Rimi in Gabasawa Ward has commenced. We will be naming the block of classrooms after the late Mallam (Baba) Mouftahu Baba Ahmed, en educationist, technocrat and intellectual. He was a father to many of us. He was a Northern titan that we lost last year and played a vital role in our childhood days while growing up. May Allah SWT bless his gentle soul. I would like to thank my team of advisers supervising the project. I must always commend the contractor (whom I have never met) for moving swiftly. As we did with LEA Rafin Guza, we will end up beautifying the school by adding some art work and greenery in partnership with local artists and gardeners. Below is a video and some pictures of the ongoing work in this school. I urge the public, particularly the people of Unguwar Rimi to also keep an eye and report to us if the need arises. Thank you.
Signed
Hon. Mohammed Bello El-Rufai
Member.
Kaduna North Federal Constituency
Chairman, Committee on Banking Regulations.
June 9, 2026.
A must-read for anyone interested in El-Rufai; it's long but worthwhile.
Reminiscence: Working with El-Rufai in the FCT
By Auwalu Anwar.
Since his voluntary but spectacular return to the country from Cairo on 12 February 2026 and subsequent incarceration by the agents of Emperor Bola Ahmed Tinubu, the story of Malam Nasir Ahmad El- Rufai (NAE) has been narrated differently by many interest groups, including his acquaintances, friends, human rights activists, journalists, lawyers and politicians. However, what I found conspicuously missing in all the narratives that I came across is, an objective analysis of his character as an administrator by someone who worked closely with or under him in any of the three public places he administered, namely: Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE), Federal Capital Territory (FCT) and Kaduna State. For instance, the common remarks about his style of leadership that presented him either as a mere sinner or a revered saint, without making any attempt to go beyond the smokescreen of such moral categorization were both irrelevant and unhelpful for the proper understanding of his essential nature as an administrator or a public servant.
How did NAE, for instance, conceive, protect or violate the trust given to him when he served as Director General, BPE; Minister of the FCT or Governor of Kaduna State? How did he recruit and relate with his political appointees, who were answerable to him? What was the extent of his distance or interference in running the day- to- day affairs of the MDAs under his jurisdiction; but especially in the implementation of their capital projects? This write- up aims to frankly answer these crucial questions, with particular reference to my experiences working with and under him in the FCT.
I first came across NAE in 1998 when a mutual friend, Malam Bashir Yusuf Ibrahim, invited me to the inaugural meeting of an All- Nigeria Elite Group known as the Abuja Initiative or simply AI, in Abuja. NAE was then working as an economic adviser and member of the Programme Implementation and Monitoring Committee under General Abdulsalami Abubakar. Because of the activities of AI and my relationship with Bashir, our paths continued to cross at that time.
With the formation of the Peoples' Democratic Party (PDP) and the emergence of General Olusegun Obasanjo as President, NAE was appointed Director General of the BPE. I later became Special Adviser (Political) to the Speaker, House of Representatives, the purposeful and selfless Rt. Hon. Ghali Umar Na'Abba in February 2000. When NAE established a steering committee on Competition and Anti- Trust in the BPE, he appointed me as one of the members. It was an influential committee with many respected persons including Alhaji Aliko Dangote, Comrade Adams Oshiomole, Professor Charles Soludo, Madam Oby Ezekwesili, Hajiya Maryam Uwais and Mr. Asue Ighodalo, constituting the membership.
In 2003, on his appointment as Minister of the FCT, NAE met with all categories of staff and audited all the operational organs of the institution. To his dismay, he discovered that civil servants had all the time to lazy around as much as they wanted for two reasons: firstly, they had thirty- five years to stay in the service; they could also live up to sixty years before retirement. As such, most of them had no motivation for initiative, innovation, or even commitment to the responsibilities for which they were employed.
To change the trajectory, he thought of creating mandate secretariats, which would operate like state ministries and appoint secretaries, who would serve as commissioners. He compiled all his findings, the audited reports of all the sectors and his vision for a way forward into a comprehensive document. He shared copies of the documents with Bashir, Asue and my humble self to study for a week, with the request that we should all think of suitable individuals who would be invited to assist him in running the new structure.
Gaza is taking its last breaths, and the situation we have reached is extremely dangerous.
Temperatures are rising to suffocating levels, and the tents where hundreds of thousands live have turned into ovens made of fabric and plastic. There is no electricity, no air conditioning, no fans, no cold water. People try to sleep, but heat, hunger, and fear make sleep seem like an impossible dream.
Clean water is scarce, cleaning supplies are almost nonexistent, and essential medicines are unavailable. Skin diseases are spreading in a terrifying way among children and adults, while garbage piles up and sewage mixes with displacement areas, spreading even more suffering.
Long lines form for food, yet many return empty handed. Aid is decreasing, and most relief centers have stopped or are no longer able to meet even the minimum needs.
At night, rats, insects, snakes, and scorpions crawl into the tents, while during the day people face unbearable heat and endless hunger. There is no safety, no privacy, and nowhere to go. Meanwhile, killings and destruction continue daily, while Gaza’s space shrinks day by day, forcing people into smaller and more overcrowded areas.
This is not life. This is not displacement. This is a complete collapse of everything that allows human beings to live with dignity.
What more is the world waiting for? How many children must go hungry? How many patients must die before the world acts? Do not stay silent. Speak about Gaza. Share what is happening.
WHAT DID EL-RUFAI DO IN KADUNA AS GOVERNOR?
This is just a teaser and it came from no other person than the "headboy of Mallam's mentees", his Excellency the current Governor of Kaduna State. The one who also said, no body can talk about Mallam @elrufai better than those of them who worked with him.
Note that the 23 local governments referenced in the video includes local government areas in Southern Kaduna.
I'm all about the truth with verified evidence.
#GoAndVerify
Bosun Tijani had all the tech solutions to the national problems until he was made minister, a platform to implement his ideas. It's been graveyard silence from him ever since
STILL FOR THE TRUTH SEEKERS
DADIYATA
For the first time, a couple of months ago, someone - @charlesaniagolu of @ARISEtv - mustered the guts and the sincerity to confront @elrufai face to face on the question of Dadiyata. El-Rufai did not dodge or buck the question. He confronted it head on (see attached video).
Why did the compulsive viral El-Rufai accusers suddenly go silent since that interview and worse since the recent revelations and information regarding Dadiyata?
I guess it's now the turn of El-rufaists to ask our own 'where is Dadiyata'? question.
#LiesAndHateEnslave
#TruthAndLoveLiberate
fuel is no longer subsidized. even federal universities, which are supposed to be affordable, are now expensive. we're paying a fortune for gas. housing is out of reach for many people. security is non-existent.
so what exactly is the government doing for us?
While other children are going to school today, our Borno & Oyo children are in the bush in the hands of terrorists.
Children as little as 2years old.
Never stop speaking about them!!!
When the PDP was destroying Nigeria, fuel was N87, gas was 150, rice 8k/bag, dollars N190.
Today that Tinubu is fixing Nigeria, fuel is N1400, gas 2k, rice 65k, dollars N1400.
Prediction on the removal of Fuel subsidy and the negative consequences on the common man in Nigeria
(HAUSA LANGUAGE).
Sheikh Muhammad Auwal Albani Zaria (Rahimahullah).