A former National Vice Chairman (North West) of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), Salihu Mohammed Lukman, has asked the top echelon of the party to wade into the seeming rift between a former governor of Kaduna State, Nasir El-Rufai and the incumbent governor, Ubah Sani.
Recall that Governor Sani said last Saturday, during a town hall meeting in Kaduna, that his administration inherited a huge debt burden of $587 million, N85 billion and 115 contractual liabilities from the government of his predecessor, El-Rufai.
He said his administration is unable to pay workers’ salaries because of the huge debts he inherited.
But in a veiled reference to the governor’s claims, a son of El-Rufai, Bashir, said in a post on his X handle that the governor was only trying to cover his administration’s incompetence.
Lukman, a former member of the National Working Committee (NWC) of the APC, said in a statement, on Sunday, that he was aware of the “growing animosity” between El-Rufai and Sani, even before the debt allegation was made last Saturday.
He said, “That shortly after taking over, the two friends are falling apart is most unfortunate and only reminds one of what played out between Alhaji Ahmed Mohammed Makarfi and Arc. Namadi Sambo between 2007 and 2010.
“Across all parties in Nigeria, serving governors exercise monopoly in producing their successors. This is one area that highlights the complete failure of the APC as an envisioned progressive party.
“And as it is, beyond Kaduna State, there are similar dynamics playing out in many APC states, and at best, the party leadership at the national level is simply behaving as a distant observer. Check what is going on in Benue, Ebonyi, and Cross River. This shouldn’t be the case.
“Ideally, party leaders at both the state and national level should have the capacity to intervene to resolve the challenge. At the minimum, they should be able to intervene to strengthen the capacity to state governments to manage challenges of governance, which is the main highlight of Mallam Uba’s presentation at the Town Hall meeting.
“Without any excuse, all of us in APC in Kaduna must take responsibility for the bad situation facing the state. In taking responsibility, we must appeal to Mallam Uba Sani to take every necessary step to undertake inventory of the debt of the state and how it was utilised.”