Kaduna State Governor, Mallam Nasir El-Rufai, has strongly denied allegations of siphoning the state's money to Dubai, United Arab Emirate, UAE.
He also issued a challenge to his predecessors, urging them to publicly swear that they had never stolen funds from the state's treasury.
El-Rufai, who previously served as the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, made these statements in Hausa during an interview on a local TV and Radio station, on Monday, March 13, 2023.
In his words: He said, “I am happy that we constructed qualitative roads that would last for years. Not those kinds of roads they have constructed in the past, which after two years, after two rainy seasons, the roads would be bad.
“We still have work to do. Our plan is that we want all roads in Kaduna to be tarred. Anyone who comes to Kaduna wouldn’t see a muddy road.
“The people can see that we executed those projects with the loan we secured. We didn’t syphon the money to Dubai and buy houses or go to Jabi Road and build a mansion.
“We aren’t like such people. I became the Governor of Kaduna State with only one house located at Danja Street in Unguwan Sarki Kaduna. I have completed my tenure, Alhamdulillah…that is my only house. I don’t have any other house. I didn’t build a mansion. I don’t even need it.”
History you should know: Recall, in 2016, The family of one Abdullahi Barazana alleged that Barazana had been picked by the Nigeria Police in Kaduna and was detained and tutored for making statements on a radio station political programme in which he claimed that Governor El Rufai had cash and property in Dubai.
In 2015, El Rufai dragged the Union Newspaper to court, asking to be paid damages over a story. The media outfit in a publication on July 2, 2015 claimed that El-Rufai declared owning ₦90 billion, including 40 mansions, in his asset declaration forms with the Code of Conduct Bureau.
In 2021, the Kaduna State High Court ordered a newspaper to pay Governor El-Rufai ₦10 million as damages and tender a public apology to him.