Former Kaduna State governor, Mallam Nasir El-Rufai, who has consistently been in the news for controversial reasons, has again launched another salvo. This time, the former governor accused his successor and current governor of his state, Senator Uba Sani of diverting local government (LG) funds to purchase properties in Seychelles, South Africa, and the United Kingdom.
El-Rufai, who recently defected to the Social Democratic Party (SDP) from the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), made the allegations in an interview with Freedom Radio Kaduna, yesterday. He claimed that Sani converted local government allocations into dollars to acquire the foreign properties.
He said that this was a departure from what transpired during his tenure when he did not interfere with local government funds.
“When I was governor, I never took a kobo from local government funds. We gave them their allocations to operate. Once we set aside funds for SUBEB, primary healthcare, and other necessary deductions, we handed over the remaining money. Both the PDP and APC chairmen are alive to testify,” he said.
El-Rufai alleged that the current administration was embezzling local government funds, adding that the federal government agencies were overlooking this because the governor was allegedly carrying out the operation to pull down El-Rufai at the behest of powerful forces in the presidency.
He had earlier alleged that the National Security Adviser (NSA), Nuhu Ribadu was the architect of this operation because of his presidential ambition. The NSA has, however, denied the allegation.
“As I speak, no local government in Kaduna receives more than N50 million per month. Once the allocation arrives, they siphon it, exchange it into dollars, and use it to buy properties in Seychelles, South Africa, London, and other places.
“They think that because we are silent, we are unaware of what is happening. But we know everything. We know how they divert the money and the bureau de change operators involved. Those accusing us of corruption are actually doing worse,” he added.
El-Rufai who had a N420 billion corruption probe hanging over his neck, however denied ever receiving bribes from contractors and challenged anyone with evidence to come forward.
“I have never stolen a kobo from anyone. If any contractor has given me a bribe, let him come forward.
“When the ICPC invited many contractors, they testified that they had never met me. Contracts worth billions were executed without me ever meeting the contractors—I worked only through commissioners and permanent secretaries,” he stated.
Furthermore, he accused Governor Sani of collecting kickbacks before awarding contracts.
“Uba goes to Abuja with contract documents, offering them to contractors in exchange for a 40 per cent kickback. We know what is happening. They assumed that was how we ran the government, but they are wrong,” he alleged.
Meanwhile, the state governor has said that el-Rufai should provide evidence to support his allegations which are spurious, and should be more concerned about how to clear his name over the corruption probe that is hanging around his neck.
