Stop Telling Lies, Witch-hunting Our Boss – El-Rufai’s Allies Fire Kaduna Gov, Uba Sani

The ongoing rift between former Kaduna State Governor Nasir El-Rufai and his successor, Uba Sani, has intensified as officials who served under El-Rufai have publicly declared their support for him while condemning the actions of the current administration.

In a statement shared by El-Rufai on Facebook, his former aides accused the Sani-led government of orchestrating their ordeal through anti-corruption agencies.

“Since June 2024, several of our colleagues have been invited and interrogated by the anti-corruption agencies,” they claimed, pointing fingers at Governor Sani’s administration for allegedly targeting them.

Naijaonpoint reports thatbEl-Rufai and Sani were once allies, with the latter serving as an advisor to the former governor before winning the governorship election in 2023. However, tensions have since escalated, with both leaders now openly criticizing each other—though Sani often refrains from mentioning El-Rufai by name.

During an interview with TVC on Monday, Governor Sani indirectly took a swipe at El-Rufai, accusing him of insincerity toward President Bola Tinubu and the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).

“If you ask me, we have just two and a half years until the next election. Any politician who thinks he is popular enough to defeat Bola Ahmed Tinubu or the APC should work hard and present themselves for the 2027 elections,” Sani stated.

The dispute intensified after a corruption report from the Kaduna State House of Assembly resurfaced online, reigniting allegations that El-Rufai’s administration mismanaged billions of naira.

An ad-hoc committee of the Assembly had accused El-Rufai’s government of misappropriating N423 billion, recommending that former finance commissioners and other officials be investigated by relevant agencies.

El-Rufai’s allies, including former commissioners and members of his administration, dismissed the report as a political witch-hunt.

“The lies and innuendos that both the Kaduna State Government and its lackey House of Assembly tried to pass off as an independent legislative report have been rebutted,” they stated, according to Premium Times.

They further alleged that the Assembly refused to provide them with certified copies of the report and linked its resurfacing to El-Rufai’s recent criticism of the APC’s leadership.

“Our statements have demonstrated that several of the external loans listed in the report were either not drawn at all by the El-Rufai administration or were due for disbursement only after its tenure had ended,” they explained.

They also defended El-Rufai’s tenure, arguing that his administration brought significant progress to Kaduna State.

El-Rufai had filed a fundamental rights enforcement action at the Federal High Court in Kaduna, challenging what he described as a lack of fair hearing from the House of Assembly and the state government. However, the court declined jurisdiction, remitting the case to the Kaduna State High Court.

The rift between El-Rufai and Sani deepened when former officials of the previous administration were arrested and arraigned in court on corruption-related charges.

“Since June 2024, several of our colleagues have been invited and interrogated by anti-corruption agencies,” El-Rufai’s allies stated. “Two of them have been arraigned before the Federal High Court, Kaduna, on charges filed by the ICPC.”

Among them is Bashir Saidu, who was reportedly arrested in a “Gestapo-style” operation on December 31, 2024, and remanded in prison. Despite securing bail, he remains incarcerated. Similarly, Jimi Lawal, another former El-Rufai associate, was granted bail but remains in detention.

The tensions between El-Rufai and Sani reportedly began after Sani took office and aligned himself with El-Rufai’s critics, including former political opponents such as Samaila Suleiman, former Governor Ramalan Yero, former Senator Shehu Sani, and activist John Dan Fulani.

Suleiman, who lost the APC primary for Kaduna North to El-Rufai’s son, later defected to the PDP but was defeated in the 2023 election. Despite their past rivalry, Governor Sani appointed him as a special adviser, prompting further friction with El-Rufai.

Former Governor Yero, who lost to El-Rufai in the 2015 election and later faced an EFCC investigation over an alleged N750 million scandal, was also appointed as a special adviser by Sani after rejoining the APC.

With both sides entrenched in their positions, the power struggle between El-Rufai and Sani appears far from over, as political tensions continue to shape the landscape in Kaduna State.

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