• Hayab lauds lawmakers as ex-gov faults report
Former representative of Kaduna Central Senatorial Zone and human rights activist, Shehu Sani, has said the report by Kaduna State House of Assembly indicting the immediate past governor, Nasir el-Rufai, of alleged N423 billion financial scandal has vindicated him.
In a statement on his X platform (formerly Twitter), Sani described how he was able to remain the only voice speaking against the “systematic looting of public funds embarked upon by the El-Rufai regime.”
BESIDES, erstwhile Chairman of the state’s chapter of Christian Associate of Nigeria (CAN), Reverend Joseph Hayab has commended the lawmakers on the investigation.
Sani, however, mentioned how other politicians in the state were reportedly intimidated and silenced while he remained steadfast and refused to be silenced during e-Rufail’s eight-year stewardship.
He said: “For eight years, I stood alone telling the people of Kaduna State and the country how our state was systematically looted by the governor and the criminal gang around him.
“The people inside and outside the state were deceived with aesthetics and industrial scale propaganda.
“They wrecked the economy of the state, enriched themselves and their families, destroyed the lives and livelihoods of millions of people and used religion to divide our state.
“I was persecuted and many attempts were made on my life and that of my supporters.
“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.” In another statement, Hayab noted: “Reading through the report of Kaduna State House of Assembly’s Ad hoc committee investigating the loans collected by the previous administration and the way and manner the commonwealth of Kaduna people was spent reveals that the lion must have eaten the meat that is forbidden, with allegations of likely money laundering. What a tragedy!”
The cleric said, “the figures of money unaccounted for reported by the KDSHA committee make one wonder if those who cornered the fortunes of the state into private pockets have any conscience at all, adding: “the other cause for worry is why should the masses of Kaduna suffer when very few individuals stash away loans purportedly taken to better their lives, and at the end of the day, deny the populace the services promised them.”
He continued: “The paradox is that the so-called tough posture the former governor displayed with an air of know-it-all could be associated with the typical way lions in the jungle behave, chasing away other animals only to eat all accrued meat alone. Besides, the sad development tells a lot about the damage praise-singing can cause society, whether at the federal, state, or local level.”
Hayab asserted: “What is more worrying is that many talented and industrious young educated persons, who should be in the front calling on leaders to be accountable now seem dedicated to praise singing, trying to paint individuals in leadership positions with little or no integrity to look angelic for a pot of soup at the expense of generations unborn.”
