A former senator, who represented Kaduna Central, Shehu Sani, yesterday urged the Kaduna State Government to recover all the funds allegedly diverted under the Nasir El-Rufai Administration.

The state House of Assembly accused El-Rufai and his aides of squandering N423 billion in eight years, an allegation the former governor denied.

The House received the report of the ad hoc committee set up to investigate all finances, loans and contracts awarded by the former governor.

The report indicted El-Rufai and many of his commissioners and aides.

Sani said the report vindicated his long-held opinion that there was massive mismanagement of funds by the last administration.

In a post on social media, the Senator stated: “The Kaduna Assembly has done a good job. I wish to congratulate them.

“The next step is to ensure the recovery of our stolen money…

 “For anyone who cared to go through that published report, I don’t know what ‘serving with integrity means’.

“Kaduna was a victim of two types of banditry; the one in our forests and the one in the Government House.

“They left behind estates and malls for their children and left behind a mountain of debt for the children of the poor.”

Sani said the House report vindicated his personal views.

“For eight years, I stood alone telling the people of Kaduna State and the country how our state was systematically looted…

“The people inside and outside the state were deceived with aesthetics and industrial-scale propaganda.

“They wrecked the economy of the state, … destroyed the lives and livelihoods of millions of people and used religion to divide our state.

 “Many politicians in the state were silenced out of fear of arrest, attacks by thugs or having their properties confiscated or demolished. I refused to be silenced.

“The Kaduna Assembly report is a vindication,” Sani said.

El-Rufai denied the allegations, describing the report that indicted him as “jaundiced.”

The House alleged that N423 billion of the state resources was siphoned under El-Rufa’i.

It mandated Governor Uba Sani to refer the former governor and others indicted aides to relevant security agencies for investigation.

Chairman of the ad-hoc committee and Deputy Speaker, Henry Magaji Danjuma, presented the report during plenary on Wednesday.

The report alleged that most of the loans obtained by the El-Rufai Administration were not used for the purpose for which they were secured, while due process was not followed in some cases.

The Speaker, Yusuf Liman, said the past administration’s financial activities left the state with huge liabilities.

The report was adopted and its recommendations were forwarded to the governor for immediate action.

The House alleged that the humongous withdrawals of cash in naira and dollars from the state’s coffers had no supporting records of utilisation.

It further alleged that El-Rufa’i connived with commissioners and heads of parastatals to defraud the state by issuing directives to the Kaduna Public Procurement Agency (KADPPA) to circumvent due process in  payment to contractors.

[TheNation]