Why Sen. SHEHU SANI & Ex-Gov. EL-RUFAI Don’t Talk

• EL-RUFAI Reveals Reasons

Once upon a time, the former of Governor of Kaduna State, Mallam Nasir El-Rufai, and Senator Sheu Sani, used to be very close. They are both from Kaduna State. They had what could be best described as a decent relationship. There was mutual respect between the two of them. They are both respected and accomplished politicians. They are also regarded as two of the most illustrious sons from Kaduna. They were often pictured sitting side by side at public events and sharing banters. The two were even thought to have shared same political ideologies as they were both in APC at a time before Sheu Sani left the party under very controversial circumstances to join the People’s Redemption Party.

But all of that has since changed. These two once very close friends no longer see eye to eye. They criticise each other’s political moves and mock eacxh other at every given opportunity. The situation has degenerated so badly to the point where even their families have joined in the feud. There have been instances where one of former governor Nasir El-Rufai’s sons, Bashir, had reacted to Sheu Sani’s rant at his father on his tweeter page. He had written:

“Mr Elrufai, retired Governor now back to ‘blogging on Twitter’ while waiting for political appointment from Tinubu,after working for Amaechi and surreptitiously dropping negative stories.”

“You left a huge debt profile for our Children and grand Children in Kaduna State to pay AND YOU claimed that you NEVER STOLE from the coffers of Kaduna State. One of your stooges even claimed that you are poorer now. I dare you to make public your assets by publishing the content of the form you submitted at the Code of Conduct Bureau, both the one of 2015 and that of 2023. I will get back to you after you have done this,” he tweeted.

Reacting to the tweet, the obviously peeved Bashir said Sani should face him and not his father because hios father is not Sani’s mate. He also advised he should keep the Twitter ‘war’ between people who are his mates and not extend the same to his father.

He wrote “Is this seriously how to talk to your senior? You should keep this Twitter gbas gbos between you & us, his children. We are the ones that are your mates,” he knocked Sani.

But what really happened between Mallam Nasir El-Rufai and his erstwhile friend, Senator Sheu Sani? How did things go wrong between them? Who offended who? It was El-Rufai who gave a hint as to what happened between him and Sheu Sani and why they are always throwing throwing jabs at each other on social media and even at public fora. The former governor disclosed that his refusal to appoint as commissioners, any of the people Senator Shehu Sani sent to him in 2015 triggered the anger and media outbursts he has suffered in the hands of the Senator. El-Rufai said this in a chat with Journalists in Kaduna.

He said that the nominees Sani sent to him for appointment were dropped because of lack of necessary academic competence and capacity to function as commissioners and not out of vendetta because Sani defeated his own candidate during the APC primaries.

Mallam El-Rufai also said that Sani’s opinion that he (El-rufai) masterminded the disciplinary action meted on him by the All Progressives Congress (APC) for publicly criticizing President Muhammadu Buhari contributed to further fan the Senator’s anger towards him. He added that the Senator had a history of activism and that was why he depends so strongly on the media for support in his protests and criticism.

The former governor hinted that Sani had plans of unseating him as governor in 2019 but declared he was battle-ready for any opposition whether from the Senator, other contenders within the APC fold in the state, or from the opposition political parties.

He said: “Shehu Sani’s first anger was that the list of Commissioners came out and none from his list. In a state where there are about 10,000 PhDs that I have in my data base; I am not going to take a diploma holder and make him a commissioner just because he is Shehu Sani’s man. I don’t operate like that.

“He contested the APC primary and defeated the candidate that I supported (General Sani Saleh), and after the primaries.

“I don’t owe Shehu Sani anything. I asked all of them including Shehu Sani, to give me names of people that I will appoint to positions. They gave me, and I looked at them, and none of the people from Shehu’s list is good enough to be a commissioner in my cabinet.

“Because of the things he has been doing, criticizing the President, saying all sorts of things about me, the party disciplinary process was initiated against him, but he blames it on me. He thinks I engineered it. But, frankly, I don’t care about Shehu Sani.”

“Shehu Sani’s history is that he is an activist, of some type and it is up to you to determine the adjective.

“I think the problem is that because Shehu Sani’s mind is that of an activist, he thinks that is the way to position himself…he thinks politics is being in the media all the time. Activism is different from politics. Sometimes in politics, you don’t want your name in the media, but activists’ oxygen is the media, and he thinks that the way to remain visible and prepare him for running for governor of Kaduna State in 2019 is to criticise everything I do. Frankly, I don’t think he is a threat to me politically or in any way.”

Following the nomination of El-Rufai as a minister by the President, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, expectedly, Sheu Sani, who had been warning President Tinubu to keep El-Rufai away from his government, has kicked against the nomination.

While reacting to the development during an interview on Channels Television’s Politics Today, the former lawmaker said Tinubu is inviting trouble by nominating El-Rufai as a minister in his cabinet.

”I believe that Tinubu is simply inviting trouble and danger to himself by inviting El-Rufai into his government. El-Rufai in Tinubu’s government, there are three things that will happen,” he said.

“He will plot against Shettima and he is going to plant the seed of discord between President Tinubu and Shettima. He has a track record of doing that, he did that between Atiku and Obasanjo.

“El-Rufai will not limit himself to the ministry. If you set him to Works or Aviation, he will not limit himself to his own ministry. He will meddle in every ministry in government.”

Sani recalled that when El-Rufai was appointed FCT Minister in 2003 by former President Olusegun Obasanjo, the former Kaduna governor was at loggerheads with the then ministers of aviation and agriculture as well as the Head of Service, Yayale Ahmed. During the programme, he accused El-Rufai of setting Obasanjo against the then leadership of the National Assembly. “He set Obasanjo against the National Assembly. His presence in Tinubu’s government, it will repeat itself. He is going to set Tinubu against Shettima,” Sani added.

It remains to be seen when this boiling feud between Sheu Sani and his friend, Mallam Nasir El-Rufai will end or how it will end. In a few days from now, El-Rufai will be named minister and the media hostilities between them will most ceretainly become renewed. The hope and expectation of many is that, in no distant future from now, the two political gladiators will sheath their swords.

-WALE LAWAL

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