The governor of Kaduna State, Uba Sani, has stated that it is unnecessary to react to comments by his predecessor, Nasir El-Rufai, describing him as his mentee.
Recall that El-Rufai had stated that he was not friends with Sani and described the incumbent governor as ‘My boy’
However, speaking during an appearance on TVC’s ‘Politics on Sunday’ programme, Sani dismissed suggestions that he was under the political tutelage of El-Rufai.
He asserted that President Bola Tinubu and the late human rights lawyer, Gani Fawehinmi, remained his guiding lights.
He said, “I don’t think it is necessary to respond to that comment. What I can say is that there are a lot of people in my life. Even President Bola Tinubu, I met him in 1994 at the house of Beko Ransome-Kuti. Gani is a leader and father to me, because during the era of struggle, I lived and stayed in his house. My focus is Kaduna. I don’t talk about individuals; I don’t get distracted, my eyes are on the ball.”
The governor refuted claims that his administration was paying ransom to bandits in troubled areas of the state, describing such allegations as falsehoods spread for political gains.
“Some politicians are playing with insecurity. People should ignore them. We are not paying ransom to any bandit. The community leaders came up with the non-kinetic idea, and I listened to them. We have not paid one person a dime. Anyone suggesting otherwise is only trying to mislead the public,” he said.
He explained that the government adopted a mix of kinetic and non-kinetic strategies, working with community leaders and security agencies to tackle insecurity, particularly in Birnin Gwari, where he said community-based initiatives have yielded results.
Reacting to the violent disruption of an opposition transition committee meeting recently in the State, Governor Sani distanced himself from the incident and urged respect for law enforcement agencies.
“As someone who fought for the rule of law and was detained five times, I will never be part of anything to stop anyone’s political activities,” he said.