Kaduna, Nigeria
Nasir El-Rufai, the immediate past governor of Kaduna State, has dragged the Kaduna State House of Assembly to court over a probe’s claim that his eight-year administration allegedly siphoned ₦432bn leaving the state with huge debt liabilities.
The former governor on Wednesday filed a fundamental rights suit at the Federal High Court in Kaduna against the State House of Assembly.
El-Rufai’s lawyer Abdulhakeem Mustapha, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, challenged the claim by the Kaduna Assembly Committee which indicted his client for alleged corruption.
El-Rufai asked the court to declare the report of the Assembly probe as null and void following the failure of the assembly to grant him the opportunity of a fair hearing over the allegations levelled against him and his administration by the committee.
Respondents in the suit are the Kaduna State House of Assembly, state Attorney General and Commissioner of Justice.
Kaduna Assembly’s Claim
Three weeks ago, the committee of the Kaduna House of Assembly set up to look into the alleged corruption and financial irregularities during the tenure of the immediate past Governor Nasir El-Rufai submitted its report and indicted him.
Henry Zacharia, chairperson of the ad hoc committee, presented the report during the House plenary.
According to the committee in its report, most loans obtained during El-Rufai’s administration were diverted as they were not used for their intended purposes.
The committee also said due process was not followed in securing some of the loans by El-Rufai’s administration.
The report indicated that El-Rufai and his cabinet members abused their offices, awarded contracts without due process, diverted public funds, and money laundering.
It also criticised the excessive borrowing during El-Rufai’s tenure, which has plunged Kaduna State into heavy debt.
Speaker of the Kaduna House of Assembly, Yusuf Liman, while receiving the report said a total of N423 billion was siphoned by the El-Rufai administration while leaving the state with huge liabilities.
Its recommendation, the committee want the former governor and other indicted officials to be investigated and prosecuted by security and anti-corruption agencies.
‘Scandalous Claims’
Responding to the report of the assembly, El-Rufai’s spokesman, Muyiwa Adekeye, affirmed the integrity of the El-Rufai government and dismissed as “scandalous”, the claims by the committee.
“Malam Nasir El-Rufai is immensely proud of his record of governance and the legacy he left in Kaduna State. This record of consistently high performance in public and private office cannot be altered by any malicious effort to use the auspices of a state legislature for defamation and undeserved smears,” he said.
“Many of the officials who served in the El-Rufai government appeared before the ad-hoc committee because of their confidence in the quality of their service and the rectitude which they served Kaduna State. They were under no illusion that they were participating in a fair process. It was obvious that the ad hoc committee was merely going through the motions of an inquiry just to give some gloss to predetermined conclusions.
“It is sad to see such a shameful departure from any notion of decency and fairness by a state legislature. We dismiss with contempt the claims being peddled in connection with the report.
“Malam El-Rufai wishes to assure discerning Nigerians that he has served Kaduna State with integrity and to the best of his capacity, assisted by a hardworking and patriotic team. He complied with all extant laws in all his activities while he was the governor. This jaundiced probe should be disregarded as the politically motivated hatchet job it is.”
