by Kolapo Olapoju
Nasir el-Rufai, governor of Kaduna state, cannot claim to be free of stain after spending 14 years in a party he claims “destroyed Nigeria in 16 years”, Shehu Sani, the All Progressives Congress (APC) senator representing Kaduna central, has said.
According to Sani, it is hypocritical of the governor to throw stones at a glass house he dwelled in for a long period of time.
Speaking with NAN on Monday, Sani also accused el-Rufai of throwing Kaduna indigenes into penury with his programmes and policies.
“If you google el-Rufai, you will see him from 1999 but if you google Shehu Sani, you will see him from 1989. So you can see. He was brought to limelight by virtue of being in the politics of the PDP.
“I laughed at him when he said ‘the PDP has destroyed Nigeria for 16 years’ while he enjoyed 14 years out of the 16. For somebody who has spent 14 out of the 16 years, you cannot say he is a repented man in two years.
“If you repent in two years, it has to take time to reach people who have never been sinners, like me. I have never eaten from the PDP nor have I ever been under their umbrella. But he was part and parcel of it for this period of time.”
“They do not want criticism; they do not want contrary opinions, but that is what drove them from that very party. When they moved out of the PDP what they said is that they were denied the right to express themselves on the way the party should be run.
“Nigerians have a, very sadly, short memory. We forget people who were part and parcel of the destruction of this country simply because they change political parties and then they become saints.
“It is good when you repent, but we should remind you each time you try to insult our intelligence, to tell us that you are clean and every other person is dirty.
“Since el-Rufai took over power, he has kept on unleashing one programme after another that further made things difficult for the people.
“We are still within the APC but right now, the problem has gone beyond me and him. It also involves stakeholders in the state: the party is divided.
“There are people who have invested heavily in the party; they are marginalised, not carried along and a seeming new group has emerged challenging his dominance and authority in the party.”