Former Kaduna Central Senator, Shehu Sani, has said that former Kaduna State Governor, Nasir El-Rufai, did not play a role in Nigeria’s pro-democracy struggle.
Sani stated this following the blame game between the former governor and the Kaduna State Government over the disruption of the inauguration of the transition committee members of theAfrican Democratic Congress in the state by suspected thugs over the weekend
During an interview on Channels Television’s Sunday Politics, El-Rufai stated that he does not require police permission to exercise his constitutional right to freedom of association.
El-Rufai had accused the Kaduna State Government of sponsoring the attack and alleged that police officers deployed to the scene did nothing to protect citizens.
The former governor also dismissed claims by state Police Command that the ADC gathering in Kaduna was disrupted because organisers failed to notify the police.
Reacting to the allegations, the Kaduna state government accused El-Rufai of plotting to destabilise the state through “provocation, manipulation and lies.”
In a statement on Monday by the Commissioner for Internal Security and Home Affairs, Suleiman Shuiabu, the government said El-Rufai’s recent actions, including convening an “illegal and chaotic” political meeting that degenerated into violence on August 30, were a clear attempt by him to provoke instability.”
It claimed that the former governor was bent on dragging the state back to its “dark and violent past” after the defeat of his political allies in the August 16 by-elections
Speaking on TVC’s Politics Tonight on Monday, Sani contrasted his own political journey with that of El-Rufai, noting that their paths into public service were markedly different.
“For people like Nasir, when they found themselves in a position or office, they don’t know what democracy is all about because they didn’t fight for it,” Sani said.
He recalled that his own experience was shaped by activism and sacrifice, including arrests, imprisonments and persecution during the struggle against military rule.
“As you see me here, I have been through the rough times of my life. I’ve been through many prisons, I have been through many police stations. I wore prison uniforms.
“I wore leg chains, I wore handcuffs as a political prisoner fighting for this democracy that is 25 years old,” he stated.
Sani added that while his role came through activism, El-Rufai’s entry into politics followed a different route, rising to prominence after 1999 through party politics and public office.
