Former Kaduna State Governor, Nasir El-Rufai, has sued the Kaduna State House of Assembly over the latter’s claim that his eight-year administration allegedly siphoned ₦432bn leaving the state with huge debt liabilities.
El-Rufai filed a fundamenatal rights suit at Federal High Court in Kaduna against state House of Assembly on Wednesday.
The suit, filed by the ex-governor’s lawyer Abdulhakeem Mustapha, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, challenged the report of the Kaduna Assembly Committee which indicted El-Rufai for alleged corruption.
In the suit, El-Rufai asked the court to declare the report of the Assembly probe as null and void having not been given the opportunity of fair hearing over the allegations levelled against him and his administration by the committee.
Joined in the suit as respondents are the Kaduna State House of Assembly and state Attorney General and Commissioner of Justice.
Responding, El-Rufai’s spokesman, Muyiwa Adekeye, affirmed the integrity of the El-Rufai government and dismissed as “scandalous”, the claims by the committee.
He said, “Malam Nasir El-Rufai is immensely proud of his record of governance and the legacy he left in Kaduna State. This record of consistently high performance in public and private office cannot be altered by any malicious effort to use the auspices of a state legislature for defamation and undeserved smears.
“Many of the officials who served in the El-Rufai government appeared before the ad-hoc committee because of their confidence in the quality of their service and the rectitude which they served Kaduna State. They were under no illusion that they were participating in a fair process. It was obvious that the ad hoc committee was merely going through the motions of an inquiry just to give some gloss to predetermined conclusions.
“It is sad to see such a shameful departure from any notion of decency and fairness by a state legislature. We dismiss with contempt the claims being peddled in connection with the report.
“Malam El-Rufai wishes to assure discerning Nigerians that he has served Kaduna State with integrity and to the best of his capacity, assisted by a hardworking and patriotic team. He complied with all extant laws in all his activities while he was the governor. This jaundiced probe should be disregarded as the politically motivated hatchet job it is.”
