Protesters stormed the Sir Kashim Ibrahim House in Kaduna on Thursday, urging Governor Uba Sani to involve the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and other relevant security agencies in prosecuting former Governor Nasiru Ahmad El-Rufai for his alleged involvement in misappropriating N423 billion.
Led by the Kaduna Citizens Watch for Good Governance (KCWGG), the demonstrators, numbering in large groups, marched to the Government House singing praises of Governor Uba Sani. They carried placards with various messages condemning financial mismanagement, abuse of power, and the reported accumulation of debt during the El-Rufai administration.
Signs on the placards included statements such as “Cease payments on all loans obtained without due process” and “We will occupy all Ministries, Departments, and Agencies to expel individuals implicated in the report,” among others.
Addressing reporters at the Government House, the Chairman of the protesting group, Comrade Victor Duniya, emphasized that the state had endured financial mismanagement, abuse of power, and a mounting debt burden over the past eight years.
“The most troubling finding was the diversion of N10.5 billion meant for pastoral nomadism and the construction of the Milk Industry at Damau, Kubau LGA, for the construction of Galaxy Mall, Kaduna. Additionally, the report uncovered overpayments to contractors, payments to unregistered companies, and funds disbursed for work not completed, amounting to over 36.3 billion.”
“The report also revealed large sums of money withdrawn from the state treasury without proper documentation of its usage. Furthermore, an expenditure of over 11 billion on a non-existent MRT transportation scheme was documented with no evidence to support it.”
“As concerned citizens, we condemn in the strongest terms possible the outright and merciless looting of our state, which has widened the poverty gap in the state by the immediate past administration.”
“We commend Governor Uba Sani for holding on to the ideals of the democracy he worked for by not interfering in the activities of the Kaduna State House, as many people expected you to stop the legislative arm of government from doing their work, as it was done in the past.
“We commend Governor Uba Sani for running an open government, where regular consultations are carried out with various stakeholders, especially during town hall meetings.”
“We commend the Kaduna State House of Assembly for the thorough work done in unravelling the financial atrocities committed against our state, despite blackmails and threat from the beneficiaries of the financial heist.”
“We call on Governor Uba Sani to implement relevant sections of the report that fall under his purview.We call on the Governor to officially forward the findings of the committee report to relevant anti-corruption agencies to enable them to swing into action and recover our resources at their disposal.”
“We assure you of our maximum support, as we are aware that those who ought to be behind bars for looting our state now have the effrontery to dish out threats to the people-centered leadership of our dear state.
“We call on Security Agencies to immediately arrest and prosecute former governor Nasir El-Rufai and those he has incited to bring down the government of Senator Uba Sani.
“We appreciate your peaceful presence in our endeavor to bring positive change to our beloved state, despite the challenging weather conditions”.
The group’s leader, Comrade Duniya, was subsequently received on behalf of the protesters by Deputy Governor Hajiya Hadiza Balarabe, Secretary to the State Government (SSG) Abdulkadir Meyere, Deputy Chief of Staff Umar Hassan Waziri, Private Personal Secretary (PPS) Professor Bello Ayuba, and other officials.
Duniya conveyed that the government officials acknowledged the group’s peaceful demonstration and assured them that their concerns would be relayed to the Governor, who was unavoidably absent when the protesters arrived at the Government House.