From Noah Ebije, Kaduna
It is very obvious that the Kaduna State Governor, Senator Uba Sani deliberately refused to inherit the socio-political enemies of his predecessor, Mallam Nasir El-Rufai, when he assumed office on May 29, 2023.
It is believed that the number of political enemies El-Rufai made in the state were equal to the amount of money his administration allegedly misappropriated, giving Uba Sani a heavy load to bear. The State House of Assembly indicted El-Rufai’s administration of alleged N423bn theft.
El-Rufai, in his eight years of governing Kaduna State, held sway as the most popular governor in the demolition of both legal and illegal structures in the state, where he made a lot of enemies for demolishing their life earned property.
He became widely known as ‘Mai Rushe’, meaning, the demolisher.
Leadership of Southern Kaduna People’s Union (SOKAPU) one of the unfriendly partners and sworn enemy of El-Rufai’s administration is now the beautiful bride of Governor Sani’s government.
Interestingly, the incumbent governor has refused to thread the paths of El-Rufai, so instead of demolishing people’s property, he embarked on a more civic pattern of engagement in addressing the issue El-Rufai used iron fist to tackle, thus earning him the sobriquet ‘Mai Gini’, meaning the builder, the reformer, for abandoning what many termed El-Rufai’s anti-people’s policies and programmes.
The near-empty treasury inherited from El-Rufai was a big shock for Governor Sani. Daily Sun gathered that the governor had thought he was going to inherit a healthy treasury from a man who believed in accountability and transparency. This development, it was learnt, further put a sharp knife to their hitherto welded relationship.
On the issue of land, instead of revoking and seizing people’s land, Governor Sani, in accordance with the Land Use Act 1978 approved the downward review of processing fees for the Recertification Programme by the Kaduna State Geographic Information Service (KADGIS) among other notable interventions.
To this end, the current reviewed fee is now N20,000.00 for those without deed of assignment and N40,000.00 for those with deed of assignment on property.
Similarly, in a public service announcement signed by KADGIS, it was stated that “Governor Sani has extended the registration for the Recertification Programme up to May 2025 and has further removed associated penalties to accommodate title holders who have not registered yet.”
Furthermore, in line with the power vested in him by the Land Use Act, 2004, Governor Uba Sani graciously approved the downward review of the penalty fees for areas declared for regularisation of property in Kaduna State.
This downward review, analysts say, is aimed at easing the burden of occupiers of such areas for the regularisation programme to get titles for their property faster and at an affordable fee.
Also, some residents applauded the governor when he recently returned the Abacha family’s lands revoked, and seized by El-Rufai.
Governor Sani had reinstated two parcels of land situated in different areas of Kaduna city to the family of the late Head of State, General Sani Abacha, two years after they were revoked and seized by former Governor Nasir El-Rufai.
The two parcels of land are located at No. 9 Abakpa GRA, Kaduna, measuring 2,284m² and covered by Kaduna State Certificate of Occupancy No. 30575, and No. 1 Degel Road, Ungwan Rimi, GRA, Kaduna, measuring 3,705m² and covered by Kaduna State Certificate of Occupancy No. 11458.
The Abacha family lawyer, Reuben Atabo, SAN, informed that the Right of Occupancy (RO) for the two property was revoked in 2022 and seized by the immediate past governor of the state, Nasir El-Rufai.
The Kaduna State Government under El-Rufai had placed a newspaper advert on April 28, 2022, stating that “this is to inform the general public that His Excellency, the Governor of Kaduna State, has in exercise of the power conferred on him under the Land Use Act, 1978, revoked titles to plots of land within Kaduna metropolis for various contraventions of terms and conditions of the Right of Occupancy.”
According to Atabo, the name of Sani Abacha was listed as number 34 in the publication for the revocation of land titles.
In response, Atabo filed suits No. KDH/KAD/465/2021 and No. KDH/KAD/509/2022 at the Kaduna State High Court, seeking claims for embarrassment to the Abacha family name due to the publication, among other reliefs.
However, Governor Sani, in two letters dated 10th December 2024, through Mustapha Haruna, Deed Registrar, on behalf of the Director General of the Kaduna Geographic Information Service (KADGIS), reinstated the titles of the lands, instructing the title holders to pay outstanding ground rent fees.
In another development, while El-Rufai was accused by some Kaduna residents of sidelining the Christian community in the governance of the state, especially by promoting and implementing Muslim- Muslim ticket for the governorship in the state, Governor Sani decided to romance the Christian community to douse tension caused by what many termed “El-Rufai’s one-sided leadership.”
Though, he inherited a fellow Muslim as a Deputy, Governor Sani, a Muslim, broke the jinx by attending the Christmas Carol of Six Lessons organised by the Kaduna State chapter of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), first in December 2023 and for the second time in December 2024.
In a remark at the event, the governor lamented that the state witnessed a lot of setbacks as a result of the activities of ethnic and religious bigots who divided the state along ethno-religious lines because of their selfish interests.
According to the governor, he attended the Christmas Carol to celebrate with Christians because when he took the oath of office, he promised to treat everyone equally, irrespective of their religious, tribal, or political affiliations.
The governor pointed out that the challenge before every resident is to help in repositioning Kaduna State to bring back its lost glory, adding that Muslims and Christians must live together. He however, expressed dismay with the present situation, where Kaduna town is divided, with Muslims living in one section while Christians live in the other.
The governor noted that both President Bola Tinubu and himself were working very hard to extend economic prosperity to everyone, adding that “we must work together because poverty has no tribe, it has no religion.”
He expressed happiness that both Jama’atuI Nasril Islam (JNI) and CAN have been working together as one family to maintain peace in Kaduna State, which he described as an important achievement.
The governor commended the Secretary of JNI who attended the Christmas Carol with him, adding that “I can tell you that some people are not happy, but the fact remains that we took an oath, and those who are not happy may be the minority. The most important thing is that the majority are happy because we are working towards the development and progress of our state; for me, that is the key,” Governor Sani added.
The CAN Chairman, Kaduna State Chapter, Rev. Caleb Ma’aji, described Governor Sani as a leader who consistently strives for inclusivity and balance.
“For us, having His Excellency, the Governor of Kaduna State, Uba Sani at the Christmas Carol programme is a further demonstration that he is not bias and that he is not a religious bigot but an equitable Governor who identifies with his people despite the differences in faith, belief and location,’’ he added.
Again, Governor Uba Sani took the Bull by the horn recently, when he reinstated a traditional ruler deposed by El-Rufai. The governor said he reinstated Jonathan Zamuna as the substantive Chief of Piriga Chiefdom in Lere Local Government, in compliance with the judgement, delivered by the Industrial Court in Kaduna.
Before handing Mr Zamuna his appointment letter, the governor said that his administration believes in the rule of law, due process, and justice.
It will be recalled that the National Industrial Court in Kaduna nullified the removal and deposition of Chief Jonathan Zamuna as Chief of Piriga on June 14, 2024, and stated that the action is “null and void.”
The court also issued an order “restoring the claimant to his appointment and office as the Chief of Piriga Chiefdom in Lere Local Government Area of Kaduna State with all his salaries, allowances, entitlements, and benefits of the office thereof.”
Governor Sani, who congratulated the new Chief on his reinstatement, advised him to treat all the people in his chiefdom equally, without ethno-religious discrimination.
Meanwhile, a group, Northern Coalition of Socio-Political Group (NCSPG) fearing that El-Rufai might take his pound of flesh against Governor Sani by organising a strong opposition against him in the 2027 governorship election, has vowed to stop El-Rufai.
The National President of the group, Musa Mohammed said, “we want to inform about the emerging political development in Kaduna State. It has come to our notice that the former Kaduna Governor, Nasir El-Rufai is allegedly working underground to pull our hardworking and indefatigable Governor, Senator Uba Sani down despite obvious and glaring development and growth since assumption of office as the Executive Governor.
“The reasons are obvious; we recalled that the Kaduna State House of Assembly adopting the report of the 13-man panel, asked the incumbent Governor, Uba Sani, to refer El-Rufai, his Commissioner of Finance and other aides to relevant security agencies for investigation over $587 million inherited debts, N85 billion, and 115 contractual liabilities from the administration of Mr. El-Rufai.
“Instead of the former governor to provide evidence against allegations raised by the State Assembly Adhoc-Committee, he has adopted a fight to finish approach rather than follow due legal processes to defend himself.
“It is in the public domain that Governor Uba Sani lamented that the N3 billion left from the allocation by El- Rufai was not enough to pay salaries, as the state’s monthly salary bill stands at N5.2 billion. There are several issues and debt burden inherited by Senator Uba Sani’s administration, yet for peace to reign he has decided that due process be followed to unravel the truth about it.
“But as it is now, we are battle ready to fight on behalf of Governor Uba Sani to liberate Kaduna people from shackles of debt burden, high handedness and imposition of stooges as governor, come 2027.
“It is against this background that we have come to inform people of Kaduna State, both residents and citizens that as far as we are concerned, Governor Uba Sani has done well and he is still working hard to make Kaduna State the beautiful bride of Nigeria and the world.
“Thus, we make bold to say that ‘No Vacancy in Sir Kashim Ibrahim Government House, come 2027’. El-Rufai has enjoyed his eight years of two terms and nothing wrong with Uba Sani enjoying same right,” the group said.
