Kaduna State governor, Senator Uba Sani, has dismissed suggestions that he was a political protégé of his predecessor, Mallam Nasir El-Rufai, insisting that his inspirations have always been President Bola Tinubu and the late human rights activist, Chief Gani Fawehinmi.
Speaking on TVC’s ‘Politics on Sunday’ programme, Governor Sani said such insinuations were unnecessary, stressing that his priority remains delivering good governance in Kaduna.
“I don’t think it is necessary to respond to that comment,” he said. “What I can say is that there are a lot of people in my life. Even President Bola Tinubu, I met him in 1994 at the house of Beko Ransome-Kuti. Gani is a leader and father to me, because during the era of struggle, I lived and stayed in his house. My focus is Kaduna. I don’t talk about individuals; I don’t get distracted, my eyes are on the ball.”
The governor also refuted claims that his administration was paying ransom to bandits in crisis-hit parts of the state, describing such allegations as politically motivated falsehoods.
“Some politicians are playing with insecurity. People should ignore them. We are not paying ransom to any bandit,” he declared. “The community leaders came up with the non-kinetic idea, and I listened to them. We have not paid one person a dime. Anyone suggesting otherwise is only trying to mislead the public.”
According to him, the state government is combining kinetic and non-kinetic approaches to combat insecurity, working with community leaders and security agencies. He cited Birnin Gwari as an example where community-driven initiatives have produced positive results.
On the recent violent disruption of an opposition transition committee meeting in the state, Governor Sani distanced himself from the incident and called for respect for law enforcement processes.
“As someone who fought for the rule of law and was detained five times, I will never be part of anything to stop anyone’s political activities,” he said.
“Our leader, Chief Gani Fawehinmi, always told us to respect the police force if we don’t want anarchy. The police are investigating, and we should allow them to do their work.”
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