Protesters gathered at Kaduna Government House on Thursday, urging Governor Uba Sani to call in the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission and other security agencies to arrest and prosecute former Governor Nasir El-Rufai over an alleged indictment involving N423 billion.
According to reports, Truthlive news gathered that the protest, organized by the Kaduna Citizens Watch for Good Governance, saw a large number of people march from UTC bus stop along Sokoto Road to the main entrance of Sir Kashim Ibrahim Government House in Kaduna.
They carried placards with messages such as “Stop servicing all loans that did not follow due process” and “We will occupy all MDAs to chase out all indicted persons.”
This demonstration followed a report from an ad hoc committee set up by the Kaduna State House of Assembly to investigate the finances, loans, and contracts awarded during El-Rufai’s administration.
The committee, led by Deputy Speaker Hon. Henry Zacharia, found that many loans obtained between 2015 and 2023 were not used for their intended purposes and recommended the prosecution of El-Rufai and other officials for abuse of office and money laundering.
Governor Uba Sani recently lamented the financial state left by El-Rufai, mentioning a debt burden of N587 million, N85 billion, and N115 billion in contractual liabilities, which left the state unable to pay workers’ salaries.
The protesters’ leader, Comrade Victor Duniya, called on Governor Sani to implement the recommendations of the House committee’s report and to forward the findings to relevant anti-corruption agencies. He praised the governor for not interfering in the legislative process and for running an open government.
“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 threats 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-centred 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 endeavour to bring positive change to our beloved state, despite the challenging weather conditions.”
The Deputy Governor, Hajiya Hadiza Balarabe, along with other government officials, received Duniya and assured the protesters that their concerns would be communicated to the governor.