N423bn Scandal: Kaduna Assembly Report Escalates El-Rufai, Uba Sani’s Bitter Feud
The political tension between former Kaduna State Governor Nasir El-Rufai and his successor, Uba Sani, has intensified following a report by a state assembly committee.
The ad-hoc committee, tasked with investigating finances under El-Rufai’s administration, submitted its findings on June 5th. The report accuses the ex-governor and his appointees of misappropriating a staggering N423 billion in state funds.
The committee analysing the means through which the funds were allegedly looted in the submitted report, said that the former governor recklessly awarded contracts, assented to huge withdrawals in naira and dollars, and diverted and laundered the state money, among others. The committee advised the state government to invite relevant law enforcement agencies to probe his predecessor and his commissioners, as well as some agencies’ heads which it said were complicity.
The KSHA had inaugurated the 13-man panel in April, a few weeks after Governor Uba Sani at a town hall meeting decried how the humongous debts El-Rufai left behind had been frustrating his government from delivering its campaign promises to the people of Kaduna. Lamenting how his government struggles to pay workers’ salaries, Sani said a large chunk of the allocation the state receives monthly from the federal government is used to repay the debts.
‘I am Vindicated’
Senator Shehu Sani, a vocal critic of the El-Rufai administration during his tenure representing Kaduna Central, sees the report as vindication. In a social media post, he claims to have consistently exposed the alleged systematic looting by El-Rufai for eight years.
Senator Sani was instrumental in the Senate’s rejection of El-Rufai’s $350 million loan request in 2018. He warned that approving the loan would increase the state’s debt to a concerning $582.1 million. Ironically, El-Rufai is alleged to have secured the loan a year later with the help of Senator Uba Sani, who succeeded him.
“Scandalous claims”
However, a few hours after the report was handed to the Assembly, Mallam El-Rufai debunked the allegations that under his government N423bn was stolen from the Kaduna State’s coffer. He said the claims were ‘scandalous’. “We have not been availed a copy of the report, to which we would respond robustly whenever we obtain it. We affirm the integrity of the El-Rufai government and dismiss the scandalous claims being aired as the report of the committee,” he said.
Roots of the Rift
The reported animosity between El-Rufai and Sani appears to have stemmed from the Senate’s rejection of El-Rufai’s appointment, allegedly due to a failed security test. El-Rufai then proposed a loyalist from his senatorial district as a replacement.
Governor Sani reportedly viewed this move as disrespectful, particularly considering his disqualification. Sources within the party claim Sani felt El-Rufai had no right to push for a replacement after his failure.
The sources further suggest that Sani is actively correcting perceived wrongs of the El-Rufai era, including addressing the marginalization of certain regions. Additionally, Sani is said to be distancing himself from El-Rufai’s alleged divisive and religious politics, which sources claim exacerbated state tensions and nearly cost the APC the 2023 governorship election. Uba Sani narrowly defeated the PDP candidate by a mere 10,000 votes.
Call for intervention
Analysts say what’s happening in Kaduna is not new as Nigerians have been treated to all kinds of political brawls between governors and their predecessors since the return of democracy in 1999. However, they urge the leaders of the APC at the national level to wade into the face-off between Mallam Nasir El-Rufai and his successor Governor Uba Sani as such a crisis will do neither the State nor the party good.
