Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), Managing Director, Mrs Hadiza Bala-Usman Managing Director of Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), has dismissed claims that Kaduna State Governor Nasir el-Rufai is her boyfriend.
There were insinuations that Usman, who was a Chief of Staff to El-Rufai during his first tenure, became head of the maritime agency because of her relationship with the governor.
Speaking on a programme aired by Television Continental to mark the International Women’s Day, the NPA boss, “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.”
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She further stated 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.
