Managing director of the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), Hadiza Usman, has denied allegations that she has a romantic relationship with Kaduna State Governor, Nasir El-Rufai.
Ms Usman spoke on Monday on a programme on TVC to mark the International Women’s Day.
“I am definitely not his girlfriend. The governor is my mentor and my boss,” she said.
“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.”
Usman was El-Rufai’s chief of staff from 2015 to 2016.
She was appointed head of NPA in July 2016 by President Muhammadu Buhari.
“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 44-year-old added.
“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 pulldown.”
