"Shehu Sani Sets the Record Straight: El Rufai's N1bn Bandit Payment Claims are Just Envy-Driven Lies"

Table of Contents

1. Dismissal of Claims
2. Senator Sani's Statement
3. Security Issues Under El-Rufai
4. Airport Closure
5. Challenge for Evidence
6. Allegations of Discrimination
7. Progress Under Governor Uba Sani

Former Kaduna Central Senator, Shehu Sani, has rejected as “false and absurd” the assertion made by ex-Governor Nasir El-Rufai that the Kaduna State Government, led by Governor Uba Sani, paid N1 billion to bandits.

In a strongly-worded statement released to journalists on Sunday, Senator Sani remarked that the allegation attributed to the former governor was lacking in credibility and represented “politically motivated falsehood.”

In the statement he personally signed, Senator Shehu Sani accused the former governor of fostering what he termed a “culture of appeasement towards terrorists” during his time in office. He pointed out that El-Rufai had previously acknowledged engaging in “conditional cash transfers” to bandits, a claim that, he noted, resulted in the arrest of journalist Luka Biniyat at the time.

The former lawmaker contended that Kaduna State experienced some of its most severe security crises under El-Rufai’s leadership, citing numerous high-profile incidents, including the Kaduna–Abuja train attack, the abductions at Greenfield University, and the kidnapping and murder of students from the Federal College of Forestry Mechanisation, Bethel Baptist High School, and other institutions.

“During his tenure, bandits and terrorists operated freely like lords and kings,” Sani stated, adding that vast areas of Southern and Central Kaduna turned into “slaughterhouses where criminals acted without hindrance.”

He also pointed out that even the Kaduna airport was closed at one point due to rising insecurity.

Sani further mentioned El-Rufai’s decision to withdraw his son from a public school due to safety concerns, arguing that such actions contradict the former governor’s current assertions regarding security.

Challenging El-Rufai to provide evidence of any alleged payment by the current administration, Sani stated: “If he possesses images or videos showing cash being handed to bandits, he should make them public.”

The former senator additionally claimed that El-Rufai is motivated by “envy” regarding what he described as Governor Uba Sani’s achievements in promoting unity between the predominantly Christian Southern Kaduna and the Muslim-majority Northern Kaduna.

He accused the former governor of overseeing a period characterized by “religious and ethnic discrimination, division, persecution, torment, and terror.”

While recognizing that Kaduna, like other northern states, continues to face security challenges, Senator Sani argued that Governor Uba Sani has made significant strides in “building bridges across religious divides and dismantling the structures of banditry allegedly inherited from his predecessor.”

“No sensible or responsible individual, aware of history, will believe the stream of lies that have become habitual for a man in his mid-60s,” he added.