Governor Nasir El-Rufai has promised to relocate from Kaduna State on May 29, 2023, after handing over to his successor, so as not to interfere with the incoming administration.
The governor, who expressed optimism that Senator Uba Sani will succeed him, said that he will not make any input in the running of the next All Progressives Congress (APC) government.
El-Rufai said that the next governor will be guided by God if he has a pure heart, adding that Senator Uba Sani is a good man who will also make an excellent governor.
Participants at the town hall meeting held by Governor El-Rufai, Senator Uba Sani on Monday, December 19, 2022
He described Senator Uba Sani as a worthy successor who will take Kaduna State to greater heights when voted as governor.
The governor, who spoke at a Town Hall meeting organized by the central senatorial zone on Monday, said that he has known the senator for over 20 years and he has proven his mettle politically.
El-Rufai advised the people of Kaduna State not to inundate him with requests for notes to Uba Sani, to be given appointments or contracts when he becomes governor.
Speaking at the event, Senator Uba Sani said that he has been a student of Malam Nasir El-Rufai’s School of Government and Policy in the last 20 years and he has acquired several ‘’degrees’’ as a result.
Participants at the town hall meeting held by Governor El-Rufai, Senator Uba Sani on Monday, December 19, 2022
‘’In this school, there were some people who entered before me, people like the Secretary to the State Government, Malam Balarabe Abbas Lawal, who is my senior. However, the school has no graduation date. So, we are still learning,’’ he said.
The senator who promised to continue with the policies and programmes of the El-Rufai administration, praised the governor for re-engineering governance in Kaduna State.
‘’Before the coming of this administration, government’s resources was being shared amongst a few elites, after payment of salaries. So, there was nothing left for development, in spite of the huge resources that Kaduna State was receiving as federal allocation.
‘’But Malam Nasir El-Rufai changed that narrative by improving education, revamping healthcare and building infrastructure that is benefitting the good people of Kaduna state, instead of a few people,” he added.
Participants at the town hall meeting held by Governor El-Rufai, Senator Uba Sani on Monday, December 19, 2022
The APC gubernatorial candidate said that the result of the massive investment in education has started bearing fruits because Kaduna State is the fourth state in the country whose students got five credits, including English and Mathematics in Senior Secondary School examinations.
Uba Sani, who said that government cannot shoulder the funding of education alone, called on wealthy individuals to sponsors promising but indigent to tertiary schools.
According to him, he recently gave scholarships to 280 students in Kaduna State tertiary schools to enable them to continue with their studies.
Some of the participants
The senator also said that Governor El-Rufai has empowered traders, by instituting a mortgage arrangement whereby they will pay in instalments towards owning their shops.
He recalled that shops were allocated to top government officials and party chieftains in the past, as a way of patronage, who in turn sublet them to traders at exorbitant prices.