By Achadu Gabriel, kaduna
Both ways, the recent denials from Nasir El-Rufai’s former commissioners and appointees are desperate attempt to deflect attention from the damning N423 billion alleged corruption indictment. Their claims of “political vendetta” also only underscore their contempt for accountability.
El-Rufai’s administration left Kaduna drowning in debt, with N98.9 billion in domestic loans and $758 million in foreign debt. This is a staggering increase from the state’s total debt of $234 million before 2015. The State Assembly’s ad-hoc committee reports revealed that N36.3 billion was paid to contractors for work that was either unexecuted or shoddily delivered.
The administration’s looting extended to Internally Generated Revenue (IGR), with over N721 million siphoned via unauthorized debit cards. Additionally, N430 billion vanished from IGR accounts. The report also details laughably fraudulent payments, including N632 million to Tulip Future Associates Ltd, a firm never formally engaged as consultants.
El-Rufai’s defenders claim that the allegations are a “political witch-hunt.” However, the weight of evidence, including 1,497 pages of financial records, contracts, and witness testimonies, tells a different story. The EFCC’s inaction, despite petitions from groups like the Northern Christians Accord (NCA), exposes a troubling double standard.
El-Rufai’s complicity in the scandal is clear. He authorized reckless loans, circumvented procurement laws, and enabled cronies to award inflated contracts to dubious firms. When the House demanded documentation, his team responded with obfuscation, not transparency.
The people of Kaduna demand answers, not gaslighting. El-Rufai must stop hiding behind proxies and submit to an independent probe. He must explain why N423 billion remains unaccounted for, how $2.6 million meant for wheat cultivation became a slush fund, and why his administration’s debt burden exceeds 50 years of previous borrowing. Until then, his legacy is not one of “reform,” but of rapacious plunder.
The Northern Christians Accord has issued a 72-hour ultimatum for the EFCC to arrest El-Rufai. Should the agency dither, mass protests will follow. Kaduna’s youth, retirees, and civil society groups are mobilizing—not for political theater, but for justice.
El-Rufai’s defenders can try to spin the narrative all they want, but the facts remain. The people of Kaduna will not be fooled by their antics. They remember schools without teachers, hospitals without drugs, and pensions unpaid—all while El-Rufai’s clique feasted on their treasury.
It is time for El-Rufai to come clean. The people of Kaduna deserve restitution, not rhetoric. Enough is enough.
