Against the backdrop of rumours of a cozy relationship between her and Governor Nasir El-Rufai, the managing director of the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), Hadiza Bala Usman, yesterday declared there has never been any romantic relationship with the governor.
The NPA MD spoke on Monday while appearing as guest on a Television (TVC) programme to mark the 2020 International Women’s Day celebration.
Hadiza Bala-Usman, who was Chief of Staff to El-Rufai from 2015 to 2016, however pointedly denied that the relationship helped her to secure the plum job as NPA Managing Director.
According to her the claimed relationship between her and the Governor was an “over flogged story”
“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 a female deputy governor; so you can see he has that commitment having women in positions of authority, so that rumour is completely untrue,” she said.
The NPA boss was appointed in July 2016, by President Muhammadu Buhari. She recalled how her appointment generated controversy as many saw it as ethnically based and questioned her qualification and experience for the role.
Hadiza Bala-Usman however said such response was part of attempts to pull down women who are in high positions in society.
“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,” she said.
“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 down”, she argued.
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