Politics
El-Rufa’i Reveals Kaduna State’s Financial Liabilities At Inauguration Ceremony
During the inauguration ceremony of the new Governor, Senator Uba Sani at the Murtala Square in Kaduna, former Governor Nasir Ahmad El-Rufa’i revealed the financial liabilities of Kaduna State as of the last financial year.
According to him, the state had N64.54 billion in domestic debt, N16.06 billion in other contingent liabilities, and a foreign debt amounting to US $577.32 million.
El-Rufa’i said “we have spent N818.9bn as capital expenditure between 2015 and 2022 in the prosecution of our first and second State Development Plans, attracting nearly US $5bn in foreign and domestic investments that created jobs, improved our tax receipts and laid a solid foundation for the future.”
In his remarks he said “I wish to express my gratitude to the people of Kaduna State for the support they have provided me as their governor over the last eight years. I thank them for twice electing me to this office, and for the prayers, advice and counsel they have offered us.
“At every step of the way during this journey of service, I have been able to count on the support and understanding of the people. In good times and in challenging moments, your support has buoyed us to serve you to the best of our ability. We have had to take difficult decisions, and most of our people have often understood that those steps were taken to uphold the common good. We are immensely grateful to the residents of our state.
“As we conclude our period of service, I am confident that we have made Kaduna State a better place than we met it. We have made Kaduna State proud as an investment destination, a place of innovation in governance reforms and a state of equal opportunity for all who call it home. Our Kaduna is a state where every resident is a citizen.
“We have made Kaduna State better prepared to address the challenges of today and tomorrow, and to harness the opportunities that are emerging. We have expanded access to education and health care. We have reformed our public school system to deliver free education for every child until they complete senior secondary school.
“We have placed primary health care at the heart of our health care delivery strategy. I am proud that we have guaranteed every child in Kaduna State the chance to climb the ladder of social mobility that a decent education and access to affordable health care offer. We have improved the chances of every child surviving infancy. We have reduced the chances that a woman would die from the perils of pregnancy.
“Our appointments have shown that we value women and youths. We believe that we have a duty to carry every segment of society along in governance. We initiated programmes to empower people, but we have rejected any attempt to create, foster or exploit dependence. We provide for our pensioners; we were the first state to pay the new minimum wage and we wish that we can pay our public servants even better than that.
“Under our watch, we have digitised the land registry, and laid the foundations for an efficient and fair tax system. We have built a government machinery that asserts the imperative of supporting business. We are changing perceptions and reorienting minds about the proper role of government in promoting social and economic development.
“We have put the people first as we promised. We have created metropolitan authorities to manage our cities and we have built more markets to expand access to commercial opportunities.
“I thank the people for supporting the delivery of the urban renewal projects for the benefit of the entire state. Many of our people have borne the inconveniences of construction, including longer commuting times, the removal of some buildings, adjustment of fence lines and other attachments in the public interest.
“Several have been constructive in their attitude to matters of compensation and in reporting saboteurs. We remain grateful to them all.
“Our government worked hard to firmly confront the security challenges that emerged. The measures we took ensured that we did not record any statewide crisis over the last eight years. We expanded the security footprint in the state, ensuring that more military bases and police divisions were established.
“We harnessed soft measures, like creating the Peace Commission, and we created a dedicated Ministry of Internal Security. We foresaw that banditry could mutate into a terrible menace. We galvanised neighbouring states for collaborative action to address the problem right from 2015.
“In 2017, I requested the Federal Government to designate the emerging banditry as an insurgency and to unleash on them the full weight of the military. Sadly, this was not done until 2022 acting upon the declaration of the Federal High Court.
“It is a matter for regret that the Federal Government did not appreciate the gravity of the problem until banditry had wreaked so much havoc to the lives, liberty and the livelihoods of so many people. Although coordinated military action began later in 2022, the job remains incomplete.
“I therefore urge the incoming government to sustain the pressure on the bandits, insurgents and terrorists and make the military action comprehensive and simultaneous across the seven frontline states, six in the Northwest and Niger, that are most impacted.
“As we complete our tenure, we have not relented in removing as many security threats as we can in order to help clear the deck for the incoming government.
“We have taken action against groups and individuals that are engaged in acts that are inimical to peace and lawful order in the state. We are removing the properties of identified sponsors of terrorism and those of unlawful societies that have been proscribed in this state.
“We have insisted on the primacy of law and order, and on asserting the prerogatives of the State in guaranteeing life and liberty. On security, I can say that we did all that is within the powers of a subnational to do, and resisted pressure to negotiate with or pay off the criminals.
“We are leaving behind a net cash balance in our Treasury Single Account of about N5bn after deductions for the payment of salaries, pensions and dues to the Local Government Councils, and US $2.05m in our Domiciliary Account as of yesterday 28th May 2023.
“Kaduna State has receivables for reimbursements of infrastructure and security spending from the Federal Government amounting to about N41bn, that will be paid to the state in due course.
“This does not include the sums due to the State as share of the accumulated stamp duties receipts, estimated at over N100bn, that the incoming government will certainly receive before the end of this year. I am therefore optimistic that the incoming government will in due course be in a position to settle all inherited liabilities, complete ongoing projects and initiate new ones by the Grace of God.
“We governed under very difficult fiscal circumstances, surviving two recessions, collapses of crude oil prices, the Covid-19 pandemic and the impact of the Russia-Ukraine war. We therefore had to borrow extensively to spend our way out of recession and pursue our ambition to make Kaduna great again.
“As at the last financial year, Kaduna State has the following Domestic debt of N64.54bn, Other Contingent Liabilities of N16.06b and Foreign debts US of $577.32m.
“We have spent N818.9bn as capital expenditure between 2015 and 2022 in the prosecution of our first and second State Development Plans, attracting nearly US $5bn in foreign and domestic investments that created jobs, improved our tax receipts and laid a solid foundation for the future.
“I pay tribute to the extraordinary work of our team in the Kaduna State Government. The Deputy Governor, the members of the State House of Assembly, our honourable Judges, Kadis, and magistrates, our commissioners, Permanent Secretaries, Local Government chairmen, special advisers, assistants and other government officials have displayed imagination and demonstrated commitment to help the Kaduna State Government to achieve set objectives, and I applaud them for living up to their oaths of office.
“Our traditional rulers and religious leaders have been exceptional partners in mobilising the populace to understand our policies and support our efforts. Our partners in civil society have been critical in enabling the government to appreciate the concerns of citizens without a voice.
“Yesterday, I completed the administrative handover to my worthy successor, Distinguished Senator Uba Sani, and his able Deputy, Dr. Hadiza Sabuwa Balarabe. I call on the people of Kaduna State to support him and his team as he leads the next government. With your votes, you have vested in him the future direction of the state. Let us all pray for him to succeed in the service of the state and its people beyond our hopes and imagination.
“Several members of our governing team broke down in tears at the valedictory session of the Executive Council, overwhelmed by the reality of saying goodbye.
“But goodbyes are not necessarily bad. In fact, goodbyes are part of the order of nature. Everything that has a beginning must have an end. One era ends and another begins. New leaders take charge and life continues. That is the cycle of life. Our duty is to keep hope alive and do our best, and leave the rest to Almighty God.
“On my way to this inauguration, I entered the office of the Governor to leave on his desk a fold with three messages – a print of Desiderata by Max Ehlichmann, published in 1927, and the letter of the Fourth Rightly-Guided Caliph, Sayyidina Ali ibn Abu Talib, to Malik Ashtar when appointed the Governor of Syria over 1,000 years ago.
“The third is a hand-written note from me with some thoughts as he settles down to continue the leadership journey.
“My brother and friend, I commiserate with you. You have a huge task ahead but I am confident you will be luckier in the next eight years than I have been in the last eight years. Remember, you cannot do this job alone. Your team, if competent and capable, will focus on delivering results and little else.
“If you are unlucky enough to choose people you like that have no capacity, they will resort to blaming every other person for failures than the real culprit, which is the team itself. Be careful to watch out for this.
“May the Almighty continue to protect the people of Kaduna State. May He bless our endeavours and shower on this land peace, progress and prosperity. Farewell, thank you and God bless.
Political watchers have been and will continue following the verbose altercation between two illustrious sons of Igboland, Peter Gregory Obi and Charles Chukwuma Soludo.
Interestingly, both hail from Anambra State and share the common academic background of having studied at the famous University of Nigeria, for which they are called Lions. Their feminine counterparts would be called Lionesses.
At the moment they are in the roped square, battling for the votes of the entire Igboland, one for himself and the other for his “political friend”.
Obi, who prides himself as a trader in the polity, was governor of Anambra State from March 2006 to March 2014. He even survived an impeachment in his leadership of the state which resulted in a brief break in late 2006 and 2007. Towards the end of his tenure as governor, Obi warmed himself into the hearts of the party at the centre, then the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and was invited to the high table on several occasions by then President Goodluck Jonathan.
He has since remained focused on offering his services to Nigeria at the highest office in the land.
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Soludo is the incumbent governor of Anambra State. An office he unsuccessfully vied for in 2010 under the PDP. He faced defeat in the hands of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), led by Obi.
Obi Versus Soludo
The electorate understand that both are ambitious politicians, who would give whatever they deem fit to fuel the fire of their political appetite.
The fact that Soludo switched from the PDP to APGA to realise his gubernatorial ambition speaks volumes to politicians, their loyalty and ambitions.
Their academic backgrounds show that Obi earned a Bachelor of Arts in Philosophy from the University of Nigeria, Nsukka in 1984, while Prof Soludo earned three degrees and a professorship in economics from the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, winning the prize for the best graduating student at every level. He etched his name into national consciousness during his tenure as the Economic Adviser to the President, which earned him appointment as the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN). An office he used to engineer banking reforms in Nigeria and endear himself to the citizenry.
Their stories become more intriguing when mirrored in the political microscope.
Obi stood with the people, (something akin to the talikawa political philosophy in the northern part of Nigeria), under the grassroot political movement championed by the APGA and fought with the arms of strategic marketing communications, mass appeal and the judiciary to oust then ruling party at the centre, the PDP from the Anambra State Government House.
Soludo’s first attempt at gaining executive political power through the ruling PDP proved abortive and he had to navigate his way into APGA to realise his ambition.
On his way to the Anambra State Government House, through the APGA Soludo had to eulogise the heroes of the party and Igbo icons, including the late Ikemba Nnewi, Dim Chukwuemeka Odimegwu Ojukwu and Obi. Some of the eulogies he rendered now stare him in the face, diminishing his diatribes against Obi.
Politics of Friend of My Enemy
In the game of politics, fair is foul and foul is fair. What matters most to the average Nigerian politician is to attain his or her ambition. Nigeria’s political landscape is replete with family members (spouses, blood brothers/sisters, nephews and cousins, name it) being pitched against one another as pawns in the political chess game.
Political watchers are confident that the Obi, Soludo case will not be the last. It has been on, they say, citing the instance of cousins in Rivers State, Celestine Omehia and Rotimi Amaechi battling hard for the governorship of Rivers State in 2007. They also point out that no love lost political game played in Kwara State, involving the Olusola Saraki family with his son, Bukola Saraki who went toe-to-toe against his sister, Gbemisola Saraki.
At the moment the political melodrama involving the Nasir El-Rufai family, where his children are singing discordant tunes is a fresh case study in the Nigerian polity.
This is why political observers see nothing strange in the Obi versus Soludo political theatricals.
This matter is compounded by the fact that Nigerians care less about how their political leaders emerge. The Nigerian judiciary is also not known to indulge in meticulous scrutiny of how the executive power holders ascend the throne.
Those in the know maintain that Soludo is merely piping the tunes being dictated by the party at the centre, the All Progressives Congress (APC), partly because he wants to be in their good books, which will help him shield himself from thorough investigations, while he also wants to build a foundation for his future political ambitions.
Recall that Soludo sought the backing of the APC for his re-election as governor of Anambra State for which he in turn assured the powers that be, that he would support them in the presidential election of 2027.
As the beat for the dance of the voters in the 2027 presidential election hots up, the APC might have thought to undo a formidable opponent, Obi, in his homefront, sought for, found and recruited a good ally in Soludo.
A chieftain of the APC and Minister of Aviation, Festus Keyamo, vented the stance of the ruling party and what informed the position, either unwittingly or strategically, in a post on his verified handle on X on Friday.
Keyamo wrote, “I see some suggestions that everyone is ‘obsessed’ about Peter Obi because we are always talking about him. I am sorry, but they miss the point. When someone lies per second, you also have to fact-check him per second. He got away with the lies in 2023, but this time Nigerians are ready to fact-check every claim of the ‘yes-daddy’ man.
“Therefore, to put it simply, the amount of time we talk about Peter Obi is directly proportional to the amount of lies he tells.”
What the People are Saying
The electorate to whom both Obi, Soludo and the APC are piping are not merely watching with keen interest, they are lending their voices into the political rhymes.
And the words from the streets indicate that the voters are, to paraphrase, legendary Chinua Achebe in Things Fall Apart, ‘the people did not just notice that Okonkwo was not seated among the elders; they also observed “that the second spirit walks with the same distinct, springy step as” Okonkwo’.
A political activist, Obodo Umunna, told Biztellers that while the political parties and politicians remain within their rights remain within their rights to canvass for votes, as they deem fit, they are also aware that the electorate can make free choices.
“This is why they are eager to grab it and run with it,” he said, adding that should they trust the narratives they are peddling, there would be less election malpractice in Nigeria.
The All Progressives Congress (APC) governorship candidate in Ogun State, Senator Solomon Olamilekan Adeola, popularly known as YAYI, has donated a 30-seater bus to the Remo Traditional Council.
Adeola disclosed the donation on Friday during a visit to the Akarigbo and Paramount Ruler of Remoland, Oba (Dr.) Babatunde Adewale Ajayi, and the entire Remo Traditional Council.
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The donation, according to the APC candidate, was made in further support of the traditional institution and to facilitate the official engagements and responsibilities of members of the council.
Adeola visited the traditional council alongside Ogun State Governor, Prince Dapo Abiodun; his running mate, Alhaja Kudirat Adegunwa-Balogun; and other APC leaders.
He expressed appreciation to Governor Abiodun for presenting him and his running mate to the royal fathers as his successors, while commending the governor for laying what he described as a solid foundation for Ogun State’s continued growth.
The APC candidate said he was committed to consolidating the achievements of the Abiodun administration if elected, promising to govern the state with fairness, equity and integrity.
Adeola also pledged that no community would be neglected under his proposed administration.
He thanked the Akarigbo and other traditional rulers for their warm reception, encouraging remarks and special royal prayers for him and his running mate.
The visit comes as political activities ahead of the 2027 Ogun State governorship election continue.
Former Kaduna Central Senator, Shehu Sani, has said the 2027 presidential contest should be dominated by Southern candidates, arguing that the South should be allowed to complete an eight-year tenure before power returns to the North in 2031.
Sani made the declaration on Thursday in a post on X, as debate over zoning and the rotation of presidential power continues ahead of the 2027 general election.
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He listed President Bola Tinubu, former Anambra State Governor Peter Obi, African Action Congress presidential candidate Omoyele Sowore, Oyo State Governor Seyi Makinde, Social Democratic Party candidate Adewole Adebayo and former Cross River State Governor Donald Duke among the Southern politicians who should contest the 2027 presidential election.
“The 2027 political contest should be between Tinubu, Peter Obi, Sowore, Makinde, Adebayo, Duke and other Southern Candidates,” Sani said.
“The South should complete its eight years. Its not constitutional but it’s equitable.
“We should not bury our heads in the sand and deny the realities and complexities of our history.”
Sani further argued that the North should have what he described as an “unchallengeable right” to the presidency in 2031 if the South completes its eight years.
“The North should have an unchallengeable right in 2031,” he stated.
He also warned politicians opposed to respecting power rotation in 2027 that the principle could similarly be disregarded when the presidency is expected to return to the North.
“Those who say there shouldn’t be respect for the principle of Rotation of power in 2027, should know that it WILL NOT be respected in 2031,” Sani added.
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