Former Kaduna State governor, Mallam Nasir El-Rufai, has accused his successor, Senator Uba Sani, of diverting local government (LG) funds to finance property purchases in Seychelles, South Africa, and the United Kingdom.
El-Rufai, who recently switched to the Social Democratic Party (SDP) from the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), made these allegations in an interview with Freedom Radio Kaduna yesterday. He claimed that Sani had converted local government allocations into dollars to acquire foreign properties.
He asserted that this marked a stark contrast to his own tenure, during which he refrained from interfering with local government funds.
“When I was governor, I never took a kobo from local government funds. We allocated their funds for operations without interference. After setting aside money for SUBEB, primary healthcare, and other necessary deductions, we handed over the remainder. Both the PDP and APC chairmen can confirm this,” he stated.
El-Rufai alleged that the current administration was embezzling local government funds, suggesting that federal agencies were turning a blind eye because the governor was allegedly acting under the influence of powerful figures within the presidency to undermine El-Rufai.
He previously suggested that the National Security Adviser (NSA), Nuhu Ribadu, was orchestrating this scheme due to his own presidential ambitions. Ribadu, however, has denied these accusations.
“As I speak, no local government in Kaduna receives more than N50 million per month. Once the allocations arrive, they are siphoned off, exchanged for dollars, and used to buy properties in Seychelles, South Africa, London, and elsewhere.
“They believe that our silence means ignorance, but we are fully aware of what’s happening. We know how they divert funds and the bureau de change operators involved. Those accusing us of corruption are, in fact, doing far worse,” he added.
El-Rufai also denied ever accepting bribes from contractors and challenged anyone with evidence to come forward.
“I have never stolen a kobo from anyone. If any contractor claims to have bribed me, they should step forward.
“When the ICPC summoned numerous contractors, they affirmed that they had never met me. Contracts worth billions were executed without my direct involvement—I operated solely through commissioners and permanent secretaries,” he maintained.
In addition, he accused Governor Sani of demanding kickbacks prior to awarding contracts.
“Uba travels to Abuja with contract documents, offering them to contractors in exchange for a 40 per cent kickback. We know what is occurring. They assumed that was how we ran the government, but they are mistaken,” he alleged.
I won’t react to idle talks – Kaduna Gov
Efforts to obtain a response from Governor Sani regarding these allegations were unsuccessful by the time of this report. Calls to his Chief Press Secretary, Ibraheem Musa, went unanswered, and messages remained unreturned.
However, in an earlier statement, Sani reaffirmed his commitment to governance, stating that his priority was to serve the people of Kaduna, rather than engage in unnecessary disputes.
During an Iftar (breaking fast) event with Kaduna social media influencers at Sir Kashim Ibrahim House on Saturday, the governor remarked, “My focus is on serving the people of Kaduna State, who elected me. I am unconcerned with baseless and idle chatter that contributes nothing to governance.”
His comments followed El-Rufai’s accusations that he was employing security agencies to intimidate his loyalists. This claim arose after the arrest of Jafaru Sani, who had served as Commissioner for Environment and Natural Resources during El-Rufai’s administration.
Sani, however, maintained that his administration had achieved significant progress in agriculture, education, and security, especially in areas previously afflicted by instability.
