•El-Rufai
The Kaduna State House of Assembly, yesterday, summoned both serving and former commissioners, administrators as well as contractors, to testify before its ad-hoc committee set up to investigate the 8-years administration of immediate-past governor of the state, Malam Nasir El-Rufai.
Those summoned include a former Commissioner Ministry of Public Works and Infrastructure, Thomas Gyang, former commissioner Ministry of Education, Ja’afaru Ibrahim Sani, Agric commissioner, Dr. Manzo Daniel Maigari, Administrator, Zaria Metropolitan Authority, Balarabe Aliyu, Administrator, Kafanchan Metropolitan Authority, Phoebe YAYI SUKAI, as well as former managing director of Kaduna State Roads Agency (KADRA), Engr. Mohammed Lawal Magaji, among others.
This was in connection to the state Assembly’s probe of all finances, loans and contract projects awarded under the El-Rufai administration, reports The PUNCH.
The probe by the state Assembly comes weeks after the incumbent Governor of Kaduna State, Uba Sani, lamented that El-Rufai left him a huge debt profile.
Sani, who spoke during a town hall meeting in Kaduna, said he inherited a lean treasury, adding that he could not pay workers’ salaries.
Sani said, “Despite the huge debt burden of N587m, N85bn, and N115bn contractual liabilities sadly inherited from the previous administration, we remain resolute in steering Kaduna State towards progress and sustainable development.
“We have conducted a thorough assessment of our situation and are sharpening our focus accordingly.”
The revelation by Sani had generated reactions from several quarters, including El-Rufai’s son, Bashir, who took to his social media handle and accused his father’s successor of shying away from his responsibility.
Bashir accused the governor of always staying away from the state and hibernating in Abuja, instead of sitting in Kaduna to do the job he was elected for.
The controversy also led to the suspension of the Kano APC Women Leader, Maryam Suleiman, who also backed El-Rufai and tackled Governor Sani.
However, yesterday, the Adhoc Committee set up by the House summoned former commissioners and administrators under former governor Nasir El-Rufai, whose 8-year tenure is being probed.
Our findings showed that some of the officials still serving under the incumbent governor Uba Sani, were interrogated by the lawmakers at the House of Assembly Complex, for several hours between 11:am when the session began and 8:00 pm when it ended.
The Chairman of the Committee, Henry Danjuma, representing the Kagarko constituency, told newsmen that the committee deemed it fit to summon both present and former officials of government just to assist the committee in carrying out its mandate of unravelling the circumstance(s) surrounding loans, contractual obligations under the governor El-Rufai’s administration.
Danjuma, who is also the Deputy Speaker, said more officials would be summoned by the committee should the need arise.
This, he said, would largely depend on the evidence made available before the committee by officials who had testified so far.
According to him, the session had so far been rewarding as “there have been honest and frank discussions between us and those that appeared before so far.”
He also explained that the job of the committee was just to unravel whether there were any discrepancies in the loans and contractual obligations of the immediate-past administration in the state.
The chairman said, “Today, we have invited some key persons that we deem it necessary to have them interviewed so that we can get testimonies to aid us to get to an appropriate conclusion. So that we can give a justified report of our committee.
“Depending on the evidence we heard from those before us, there might be people that may be invited based on the testimonies that we are receiving from those that have been invited.
“I’m happy that there have been honest discussions between us and those that appeared before us.
“The Adhoc Committee is to investigate financial dealings that have to do with loans and contractual obligations by the Kaduna State Government from 29 May 2015 to May 29, 2023, to unravel whether there were any misdemeanours.”
