Kaduna: The Centre Can No Longer Hold

A recent angry outburst from Governor Uba Sani of Kaduna State over the huge debt he inherited from his predecessor, Mallam Nasir El-Rufai, shows that the relationship between the former governor and his godson has gone sour, Ejiofor Alike reports

Until the Nigerian political leaders realise that power is transient and tread with caution when exercising the power vested on them by the constitution, they will continue to be humiliated when they are out of office.

This summarises the fate of the immediate-past governor of Kaduna State, Mallam Nasir El-Rufai, who was fond for courting controversy when he ruled the state like emperor, and made unguarded utterances against both his enemies and friends alike, for eight years.

His critics, including a former senator from Kaduna State, Shehu Sani had described him as an opportunist, whose political career was characterised by switching loyalty and allegiance, political sycophancy and crass opportunism.

He was also accused of betraying all those who assisted him in his glorious political career, including former President Olusegun Obasanjo, ex-Vice President Atiku Abubakar, former President Goodluck Jonathan, and lately, former President Muhammadu Buhari.

As governor, El-Rufai’s word was law to the extent that he once declared that he would never retire to the National Assembly because he did not have the patience required to lobby other lawmakers to implement legislative functions.

“The legislature is one branch of government I know I can never function. The hard work needed to convince people to support even your motion is something some of us have no patience for.

“You know management in the executive is very straightforward; it is very hierarchical and once you are a governor, your word is almost law. But in the legislature, everybody is equal and there is no management that is more difficult than managing your equals,” the governor reportedly explained.

At the peak of the nationwide invasion of Nigerian farming communities by murderous herdsmen from the neighbouring countries, El-Rufai’s comment that the governors in the southern parts of the country lacked the capacity to implement the anti-open grazing laws they made in their federating units, was regarded as impunity taken too far.

His state became a killing field during his eight-year tenure and he could not find the solution to the killings, yet he claimed that other governors should not make laws to stop the escalation of the killings in their states.

El-Rufai’s utterances on the Muslim-Muslim tickets during the 2023 presidential election were also viewed by his critics as having the capacity to potentially hurt the efforts of the President Bola Tinubu-led administration to heal the wounds of the last general election.

The then governor had insinuated in a video that went viral that it was only when Muslims dominated the state government that his administration was fair to all.

El-Rufai had also curiously suggested that allowing Muslims to occupy all the major positions was an indication that religious politics had been eliminated in Nigeria.

Having gained notoriety for making what were widely perceived as inflammatory and divisive utterances on religious, ethnic and other national issues, many analysts were not surprised that the Senate withheld his confirmation as minister over security screening.

Before he lost his ministerial bid in President Tinubu’s cabinet, he had boasted that he would not be minister, having served as the FCT minister at the age of 43.

The former Kaduna State governor had in the past also declared that he did not believe in President Tinubu’s style of politics.

Since he lost his ministerial bid, his political fortunes have diminished considerably to the extent that his recent association with the leaders of the Social Democratic Party (SDP) fuelled speculations that he was on his way out of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).

A recent comment by his successor and close ally, Governor Uba Sani on the state’s huge indebtedness showed that he has lost grip of the political structure in the state, which will further hurt his political fortunes.

Governor Sani recently raised the alarm that the huge debt burden he inherited from El-Rufai’s administration was suffocating the state.

Speaking at a town hall meeting, tagged: ‘The State of Kaduna State’, the governor lamented that the debt burden was so huge that the government would have to borrow to be able to pay workers’ salaries.

 According to the governor, the debt burden includes $587million, N85 billion and N115 billion contractual liabilities, “sadly inherited from the previous administration”.

According to him, Kaduna State only receives N3.6 billion after deduction of N7.2 billion for debt servicing.

“What we received from the federal allocation in Kaduna this month was N3.6 billion out of over N10 billion. The sum of N7.5 billion was deducted from our allocation to service debts.

“We cannot pay salaries without borrowing. Our salary bill is N5.2 billion. We will have to borrow N2 billion to be able to pay salaries,” the governor added.

Speaking further, the governor said he had approached President Bola Tinubu for assistance.

Governor Sani’s public indictment of his predecessor showed that the relationship between them has broken down.

Though the former governor has maintained silence, his son, Bashir El-Rufai, had in a swift response, accused the state governor of shying away from his responsibility by always staying away from the state and hibernating in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Abuja.

Bashir also accused Governor Sani of surrounding himself with a retinue of incompetent aides appointed for political patronage.

Bashir said that instead of admitting its incompetence, the Sani’s administration has resorted to deflect by raising alarm on a debt burden inherited from El-Rufai’s administration.

In a series of tweets on his X handle, Bashir berated Governor Sani and his team, accusing them of incompetence, contract inflation and forex speculation, wondering why they were giving debt burden as an excuse for their poor performance.

On the debt profile of the State, he responded: “FYI: He (Governor Sani) was the Senator from Kaduna who lobbied and approved the loans.”

The Women’s Leader of the Kaduna State Chapter of the APC, Maryam Suleiman, speaking in the Hausa language in a viral video, also berated the governor over his remarks.

In the said video, Suleiman accused Governor Sani of mismanagement and advised him to refrain from attributing his failures to El-Rufai.

But in a swift reaction, Kaduna State Chapter of the APC suspended Suleiman for alleged gross misconduct.

The suspension notice was signed by the APC Chairman and Secretary of the Badarawa/Malali ward, Ali Maishago and Zakkah Bassahuwa, respectively.

The party accused Suleiman of carrying out actions to tarnish the governor’s reputation.

Though the Governor Sani’s spokesman, Alhaji Mohammed Shehu, said the governor would not dignify El-Rufai’s with a response to his attack on the governor, the suspended APC Women’s Leader, had insisted that he has no regrets over her criticisms of the governor.

No matter how the political pendulum swings, Governor Sani’s comment and the suspension of the APC Women’s Leader were clear indications that El-Rufai has lost the political structure in the state.