I’m not El-Rufai’s girlfriend – NPA boss, Hadiza Usman

The Managing director of the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), Hadiza Usman, has debunked rumors that she had an affair with the governor of Kaduna State, Nasir El-Rufai, and that the affair led to her appointment as NPA DG.

Usman who was the Chief of staff to Governor El-Rufai from 2015 to 2016, shut down the rumor when she appeared on TVC programme on Monday March 9th, in celebration of the International Women’s Day. Usman said allegations like thses are what some persons use to pull women down.

When asked to address rumors that she was the governor’s girlfriend, she responded

“I am definitely not his 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.

“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 having women in positions of authority so that rumour is completely untrue.

These are the things they say to women to pull us down. 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 bottomline 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 down”.

The 44-year-old politician and activist of the #Bringbackourgirls Movement, was appointed the ports authority MD in July 2016, by President Buhari. Her appointment generated controversy as many saw it as ethnically based and questioned her qualification and experience for the role.