Former Kaduna Governor Nasir El-Rufai has dismissed the abuse of office and money laundering allegations leveled against his tenure by the Kaduna state House of Assembly.
The house today adopted a report of its ad-hoc committee tasked to investigate his administration from May 2015 to May 2023. The Committee in its report alleged that N423 billion of the state resources was siphoned under the El-Rufai’s government and asked the incumbent Governor Uba Sani to refer the former Governor and former Commissioners of finance to relevant security agencies for investigation.
Presenting the report during plenary on Wednesday, the chairman of the ad hoc committee and Deputy Speaker Henry Magaji Danjuma, said that most of the loans obtained under the El-Rufai’s administration were not used for the purpose for which they were obtained, while in some cases, due process was not followed in securing the loans.
In a statement released by his spokesperson, Muyiwa Adekeye, El-Rufai dismissed the allegations and claimed the probe is politically motivated.
“We are aware of news that the Kaduna State House of Assembly has adopted the report of the ad-hoc committee it asked to probe the El-Rufai government.
We have not been provided with a copy of the report, to which we would respond robustly whenever we obtain it. We affirm the integrity of the El-Rufai government and dismiss the scandalous claims being aired as the report of the committee.
Malam Nasir El-Rufai is immensely proud of his record of governance and the legacy he left in Kaduna State. This record of consistently high performance in public and private office cannot be altered by any malicious effort to use the auspices of a state legislature for defamation and undeserved smears.
Many of the officials who served in the El-Rufai government appeared before the ad-hoc committee because of their confidence in the quality of their service and the rectitude in which they served Kaduna State.”
It is sad to see such a shameful departure from any notion of decency and fairness by a state legislature. We dismiss with contempt the claims being peddled in connection with the report.
Malam El-Rufai wishes to assure discerning Nigerians that he has served Kaduna State with integrity and to the best of his capacity, assisted by a hardworking and patriotic team.
He complied with all extant laws in all his activities while he was the governor. This jaundiced probe should be disregarded as the politically motivated hatchet job it is.”