Shehu Sani’s Governorship Ticket is Unshakable –Group

Shehu Sani’s Governorship Ticket is Unshakable –Group

Zainab Tanimu-Kaduna, NIGERIA

As the 2019 election draws closer, the cold war between the two APC Big-Wigs, Governor El-Rufai and Senator Shehu Sani seems to be brewing storm as supporters of both parties are beginning to blow hot.

Earlier during the week, there had been press conference and counter press conferences emanating from supporters who are either for or against the continued stewardship of the El-Rufai’s administration come 2019.

The Group under the Umbrella of Youth Movement for Credibility and Good Governance had during a press conference held at the Correspondent office of Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) on Wednesday declared their support for Senator Shehu Sani’s governorship ticket to run for the 2019 election.

The spokesman of the group, Mustapha Aliyu had however expressed their worries over what they described as, the incessant embarrassing situation the senator is made to face by Governor El-Rufai for fighting the cause of the common man.

“Our attention has been drawn to the new vindictive and fraudulent recall process being orchestrated by the so-called ‘Concerned Kaduna Central Indigenes’ through one Aliyu Sa’idu Dan Baturiya sponsored by the Governor of Kaduna State, Nasiru Ahmad Elrufa’i against Shehu Sani, the Senator representing Kaduna Central Senatorial District in the Senate.

It is no longer news that this latest round of drama is the culmination of the frosty relationship that exists between the domineering Governor and the fearless Senator.

“We are worried about this embarrassing scenario in our dear state particularly our Senatorial Zone. Yet, looking into the situation from a dispassionate view, one is bound to ask, what is actually the sin of Senator Shehu Sani?

“Right from days of his activism and up till today, the Senator had always insisted on not only the good governance of Kaduna State but Nigeria in general. He has thus on different occasions championed anti-corruption campaigns as reflected on his sponsored bills and motions in the Senate.

Speaking further, the group stated that the constitution does not give a governor the right to remove any serving member in any of the National Assemblies. It therefore regarded the ‘so-called recall process as infringement on the rights of the senator.

“For the avoidance of doubt, if a lawmaker must be recalled, it must come genuinely from his constituents without outside forces remotely controlling the process with state resources. The constitution does not envisage that a Governor is in a position directly or indirectly to sack a Senator, a Member of the House of Representatives, or even a Member of a State House of Assembly. Therefore, Nasiru Elrufa’i must be stopped, simple.

“If we may ask, “what does Governor Elrufa’i really want, in the first place?” Perhaps, his desire is that the laws should be amended by the National Assembly so that he can have the sole right to those to represent Kaduna State in the Senate, House of Representatives, the House of Assembly, Local Government Chairmen and Councilors as well! This may be the only way he can exercise his powers as sole administrator or emperor of a poverty stricken state he has only succeeded in ruining further.

“While enjoying perks of the office of a governorship he neither earned nor deserves in any way, he shows absolutely no interest in understanding our constitution and its dictates pertaining to that office and its proper relationship with other arms of government.

“What we are seeing today is Shehu Sani’s consistent insistence not to join Nasiru Elrufa’i in impoverishing Kaduna State. It is no secret that since Nasiru Elrufa’i became Governor he has plunged Kaduna State into one crises or the other in a bid to become the Emperor of Kaduna State politics.

“It is therefore, outrageous that rather than commit himself to revamping the state, Governor Elrufa’i would devote his entire energy, state resources and time to a futile and fraudulent recall process of Shehu Sani that would further plunge the state into unimaginable debts.

“ In spite of being a beneficiary of the Federal Government’s bail-out funds and also the Paris club refund to states. Kaduna State is now adjudged one of the worst governed states in Nigeria. This did not stop him from retrenching both the state and local government workers. Many of the state owned institutions have not been performing optimally.  Nothing is working in the state and Shehu Sani and other progressives have vowed never to remain silent in the face of this gross mis-governance.

The group has also accused Elrufa’i of indiscriminate arrest of Shehu Sani’s supporters which they described as degrading.

“While this desperation by Nasiru Elrufa’i is clearly a political vendetta as the rising political profile of Senator Shehu Sani is seen as a threat to his dwindling political fortunes in Kaduna State, the travesty has however revealed the true character of Elrufa’i as a man to be watched carefully comes 2019. He is busy having supporters of Senator Shehu Sani arrested for no reason than their loyalty to the comrade.

Senator Shehu Sani is described as a fighter who is on the side of the defend less masses. A man who would reposition Kaduna state , come 2019 election.

“Senator Shehu Sani is clearly a fighter on the side of the defenseless masses of Kaduna State. Shehu’s revolutionary life was sharpened by the lives of world class heroes and icons of freedom and democracy Mahatma Gandhi, Nelson Mandela, Malcom X and Martin Luther King Jnr. His numerous awards are pointers to his avowed goal of repositioning the poor masses of his state to stand against forces of oppression and repression in a poverty ravaged state like Kaduna State. Knowing he can never win an election freely and fairly in Kaduna State, his antics now remind one of the stories of the proverbial chicken which attempts to destroy anything it cannot get.
He is busy having supporters of Senator Shehu Sani arrested for no reason than their loyalty to the comrade. It is our view that no one should be allowed to hold Kaduna State to ransom.

“Nasiru Elrufa’i is not the first Governor of Kaduna State and he certainly will not be the last. He should therefore not destroy the state to a level that would make it a laughing stock in Nigeria. He should also realize that putting out another man’s candle does not light his own.