The Kaduna State Government has warned that it will not be intimidated by former Governor Nasir El-Rufai’s allies in the African Democratic Congress (ADC).

The Commissioner of Information-designate, Ahmed Maiyaki, stated this in a press briefing while dismissing allegations of planned sabotage of Saturday’s bye-elections.

He described the allegation as “laughable lies by El-Rufai’s political leftovers.”

Naijaonpoint reports that the coalition, led by ADC National Vice Chairman (North-West), Jafaru Ibrahim Sani, had on Thursday accused Governor Uba Sani’s administration of plotting to rig the Chikun/Kajuru Federal Constituency and state constituency elections in Zaria and Sabon-Gari through mass recruitment of thugs, bribery of electoral officials and vote buying

But in a swift counterclaim, Maiyaki described the claims as baseless, mischievous, and a desperate attempt to discredit an election the coalition “knows it cannot win.”

Maiyaki, who was flanked by his counterpart from the Ministry for Local Government, Sadiq Mamman-Lagos, said the ADC/SDP coalition’s “poorly attended rallies” in recent weeks had already exposed their rejection by the electorate, prompting them to “cry wolf where there is none” as a face-saving measure ahead of defeat.

He stressed that the state government has no role in election conduct, which is the exclusive responsibility of INEC, and accused the coalition of trying to drag the administration into “self-inflicted political misery.”

He said, “We will not sit idly by while political opportunists smear the name of our administration and malign innocent officials with wild, unsubstantiated claims.”

In a direct jab at El-Rufai, Maiyaki reminded journalists of a past incident where “the former governor sent thugs to the NUJ Secretariat, injuring many colleagues,” saying such violence was alien to Governor Uba Sani’s leadership style.

“As we speak, the governor is in Chikun LGA flagging off the construction of Romi–Karatudu Township Roads, a community abandoned and demolished under El-Rufai’s eight-year rule,” he said.

Maiyaki accused the coalition of being unsettled by Uba Sani’s inclusive leadership, which he claimed had united the state and delivered tangible development.

“Democracy in Kaduna is alive and thriving, and no amount of theatre from El-Rufai’s political leftovers in ADC will change that,” he added.