El-Rufai Not My Mentor, Tinubu, Fawehinmi Are My Leaders – Governor Sani

Kaduna State Governor, Senator Uba Sani, has dismissed suggestions that he is under the political tutelage of his predecessor, Mallam Nasir El-Rufai, insisting that his guiding lights remain President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and the late human rights lawyer, Chief Gani Fawehinmi.

Speaking on TVC’s Politics on Sunday with Femi Akande, Governor Sani said it was unnecessary to react to insinuations about being a mentee of El-Rufai, stressing that his focus is squarely on delivering good governance in Kaduna.

“I don’t think it is necessary to respond to that comment,” he said. “I can say that there are many 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 I lived and stayed in his house during the struggle. My focus is on 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 pays ransom to bandits in troubled areas of the state, describing such allegations as falsehoods spread for political gain.

“Some politicians are playing with insecurity. People should ignore them. We are not paying ransom to any bandit,” he declared. “The community leaders devised the non-kinetic idea, and I listened. We have not paid one person a dime. Anyone suggesting otherwise is only trying to mislead the public.”

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, 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.

“Our leader, Chief Gani Fawehinmi, always told us to respect the police force if we didn’t want anarchy. The police are investigating, and we should allow them to do their work.”

Governor Sani also pointed to the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC)’s sweeping victories in the last elections as proof of inclusive governance.

“In Kaduna, APC won 70 per cent of the election. We had never won Chikun and Kajuru before. The Labour Party won there only two years ago, but we carried everyone along this time. We don’t run a government based on religion or ethnicity,” he said.