Protesters under the umbrella of Kaduna Citizens Watch for Good Governance Thursday, demanded for the prosecution of former Kaduna State govenor, Nasir El-Rufai, over his alleged misappropriation of N423 billion during his eight-year tenure.
The group registerd their protest at the Kaduna State Government House and urged the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and Independent Corrupt Practices and other related offences Commission (ICPC) to ensure that all those indicted by the Kaduna State House of Assembly ad-hoc committee that probed the alleged looting of public funds during the Governor El-Rufai administration are arrested and adequately prosecuted to recover all stolen funds belonging to the Kaduna State government.
“We, the Kaduna Citizens Watch for Good Governance, appreciate your presence as we express our grievances today. Our state has endured financial mismanagement, abuse of power, and a growing debt burden for the past eight years,” said the group leader, Victor Duniya,
“On March 30th, 2024, Governor Uba Sani revealed during a town hall meeting that the state faced a substantial debt burden of $587 million, N85 billion, and 115 contractual liabilities inherited from the previous administration. This has led to over 70% of the state’s allocation being used to service the inherited debt.
“The most troubling finding was the diversion of 10.5 billion naira 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 over payments to contractors, payments to unregistered companies, and funds disbursed for work not completed, amounting to over N36.3 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“The report also revealed large sums of money withdrawn from the state treasury without proper documentation of its usage.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.
“While we were struggling to come to terms with the voodoo former Governor El-Rufai and his cabinet members deployed to cover the faces of Kaduna people from seeing all these atrocities, El-Rufai in his characteristically lousy manner, gathered members of his well-fed family to Sallah feast where he tacitly called on them in Hausa Language to bring down the government of Senator Uba Sani, which we believe it is as a result of the sin of allowing the legislative arm of government to work for the first time in over 8yrs.
“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. 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.”
El Rufai