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Henry Marah Zachariah, chairman of the Kaduna State House Committee on Information, has accused former Governor Nasir El-Rufai’s administration of extensive looting in Kaduna State.
On Wednesday, June 6, the Kaduna State House of Assembly charged El-Rufai and several of his aides with allegedly misappropriating over N423 billion of state funds between 2015 and 2023.
El-Rufai, in a strong rebuttal, has vehemently denied these accusations, asserting that he served with utmost integrity.
The House has also requested Governor Uba Sani to forward the names of those implicated, including former commissioners for finance, agency heads, and accountants-general from that period, to the relevant security agencies for further investigation.
During an interview on Channels TV’s Politics Today, Marah claimed that El-Rufai’s administration was deeply involved in corruption.
As quoted by Daily Trust, Henry Marah said, “El-Rufai government mercilessly looted Kaduna State. When he came in, the total debt was $235 million. But in his eight years in government, he single-handedly took $758 million dollars. By the time he came into office in 2015, the domestic debt was completely wiped out, but left about N33 billion.
“Go and check his handover note. How much did he leave for us? The money he collected to execute these projects, over 60 percent of the projects were abandoned. It will take Kaduna State 20 years to complete what he left behind. Where is the integrity?”
He recounted that anyone who signed contracts during El-Rufai’s tenure would be summoned, adding that El-Rufai would have the opportunity to defend himself.