El-Rufai is my boss, not boyfriend — NPA boss

Managing Director of Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), Ms Hadiza Usman has denied having a romantic relationship with Kaduna State Governor Malam Nasir el-Rufai. Usman, a former Chief of Staff to El-Rufai during his first tenure, dismissed the insinuations that her romantic affairs paved way for her to be appointed the head of the maritime agency. […]

Managing Director of Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), Ms Hadiza Usman has denied having a romantic relationship with Kaduna State Governor Malam Nasir el-Rufai.

Usman, a former Chief of Staff to El-Rufai during his first tenure, dismissed the insinuations that her romantic affairs paved way for her to be appointed the head of the maritime agency.

Speaking on a programme aired by Television Continental to mark the International Women’s Day, the NPA boss asserted that El-Rufai is her boss, noting that he has been very supportive of women’s participation in politics.

She said, “I am definitely not his (El-Rufai’s) girlfriend. The governor is my mentor and my boss. He has been very supportive of my career and the career of every other woman that has worked for him.”

The NPA boss stressed that some people are out to pull down women who are doing well in politics.

“As you are aware, Kaduna State is the first state in Northern Nigeria that has an elected female deputy governor. So, you can see he has that commitment to having women in positions of authority so that rumour is completely untrue.

“These are the things they say to women to pull us down. They say for everything you have done in terms of showcasing your competence they always reference and attribute it to the fact that you are in a relationship with another person.

“The bottom line is that you got a job and you perform, so when people reference that you got there because you were somebody’s girlfriend, that is a pull her down,” she said.