Kaduna Governor Disregards Assault by El-Rufai’s Son; APC Suspends Women’s Leader

The Kaduna State Chapter of the All Progressives Congress has suspended the Women’s Leader, Maryam Suleiman, for criticising Governor Uba Sani over the huge debt inherited from the previous administration.

This was as Governor Sani’s spokesman, Alhaji Mohammed Shehu, told reporters that the governor would not dignify the son of the immediate-past governor, Nasir El-Rufai, Bashir, with a response to his attack on the governor.

The Kaduna APC, in a March 31, 2024 notice, said the Women Leader was suspended 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.

The Kaduna State governor had, on Saturday, during a Town Hall Meeting, lamented the huge debt inherited from his predecessor, El-Rufai.

Sani said the state was left with a lean purse and too broke to pay workers’ salaries.

The governor said El-Rufai left him $587m, N85bn and 115 contractual liabilities.

“Despite the huge debt burden of $587m, N85bn, and N115bn contractual liabilities sadly inherited from the previous administration, we remain resolute in steering Kaduna State towards progress and sustainable development.

“We have conducted a thorough assessment of our situation and are sharpening our focus accordingly,” Sani had said.

However, the APC women leader speaking in the Hausa language in a viral video, berated the governor over his remarks.

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

But in the suspension notice, the Kaduna APC alleged that Suleiman had been involved in orchestrating an attack on the political adviser to the governor, Manzo Maigari, purportedly carried out by thugs.

Citing Article 21, 2 (v) of the the APC Constitution, the party said Suleiman’s suspension would remain indefinite pending a thorough investigation into the allegations.

Meanwhile, Governor Sani’s spokesman also explained that the governor would not reply El-Rufai’s son, who took to X to attack the governor over the state’s debt profile.

El-Rufai’s son, Bashir, on his social media handle, accused his father’s successor Sani, of shying away from his responsibility by always staying away from the state and hibernating in Abuja.

The young El-Rufai accused the governor of surrounding himself with a retinue of incompetent aides appointed for political patronage.

However, when asked to react to Bashir’s claim, the governor’s spokesman maintained that his principal had stated the obvious on the financial status of the state.

“The task ahead of us is enormous and we won’t trade that for trivialities. His Excellency Senator Uba Sani has categorically stated the true financial status of the state,” Shehu said.