The immediate past Governor of Kaduna State, Nasiru El-Rufai, has mocked his successor, Governor Uba Sani, over waste disposal issues in the state. Despite being friends and political associates for many years, El-Rufai and Sani have recently been at odds.
Governor Sani has been praised in some quarters for his performance since taking office a little over a year ago, with some claiming he has made significant improvements in the state. However, El-Rufai saw an opportunity to criticize his successor when an X user posted photos of garbage heaps in Kaduna, sarcastically suggesting that Sani had “completely changed” the state.
The X user wrote, “They thought we were kidding when we said that in just a few months, Governor Uba Sani had changed Kaduna completely. This is the type of change we are getting from the best Governor in Nigeria,” accompanied by photos of the waste.
El-Rufai responded with a cryptic message, “From God we all came, and to Him we shall all return,” seemingly mocking Sani’s handling of the state’s waste management.
The tension between the two leaders has escalated since Sani accused El-Rufai of plunging Kaduna State into significant debt, hampering governance and development. Sani highlighted that the state faced a substantial debt burden of $587 million, ₦85 billion, and 115 contractual liabilities inherited from El-Rufai’s administration. Over 70% of the state’s allocation was reportedly being used to service this debt, prompting the state assembly to investigate the financial transactions from May 29, 2015, to May 29, 2023.
The investigation, led by Barrister Henry Danjuma Magaji, uncovered significant unaccounted funds and irregularities in financial transactions. In response, El-Rufai recently took the Kaduna State government to court over allegations of misappropriation of funds against him and some of his officials.