Protesters under the auspices of Kaduna Citizens Watch for Good Governance, KCWGG, have called on the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, to probe and arrest Mallam Nasir El-Rufai, former governor of the state.
The aggrieved protesters stormed Kaduna State Government House on Thursday, urging Governor Uba Sani to mandate the EFCC and other agencies to prosecute El-Rufai over his administration’s indictment to the tune of N423 billion.
Armed with placards with different inscriptions, the protesters condemned alleged financial mismanagement, abuse of power, and a growing debt burden for the past eight years, incurred by El-Rufai’s administration
Some of the inscriptions on the placards read, ‘We will occupy all MDAs to chase out all indicted persons in the report’, ‘Stop servicing all loans that did not follow due process before they were obtained’.
DAILY POST recalls that Governor Uba Sani had on March 30, revealed during a town hall meeting that the state faced a substantial debt burden of $587 million, N85 billion, and 115 contractual liabilities inherited from the past administration, leading to over 70 per cent of the state’s allocation being used to service the inherited debt.
Following the revelation by the governor, the Kaduna State House of Assembly constituted an ad-hoc committee to investigate the state’s financial transactions from May 29th, 2015 to May 29th, 2023.
The committee, led by Barrister Henry Danjuma Magaji, submitted its findings on June 5, highlighting significant unaccounted funds and irregularities in financial transactions under the El-Rufai’s administration.
Chairman of the protesting group, Comrade Victor Duniya, who addressed journalists at the Government House, said, “We, the Kaduna Citizens Watch for Good Governance appreciate your presence as we express our grievances today.
“Our state has endured financial mismanagement, abuse of power, and a growing debt burden for the past eight years.”
He decried the alleged diversion of N10.5 billion meant for pastoral nomadism and the construction of the Milk Industry at Damau, Kubau LGA, for the construction of Galaxy Mall, Kaduna by the past administration.
“As concerned citizens, we condemn in the strongest terms possible the outright and merciless looting of our state, which has widened the poverty gap in the state by the immediate past administration.”
He then called on Governor Sani to implement relevant sections of the report that fall under his purview and officially forward the findings of the committee report to relevant anti-corruption agencies to enable them to swing into action and recover the state’s resources at their disposal.
The chairman of the group, Comrade Duniya was later received behind closed doors by the Deputy governor, Dr Hadiza Balarabe, Secretary to the State Government, SSG, Abdulkadir Meyere, Deputy Chief of Staff, Umar Hassan Waziri, Private Personal Secretary, PPS, Professor Bello Ayuba, among others.
