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Kaduna State Governor Uba Sani has said he will not disclose the private steps he has taken to demonstrate support for his detained predecessor, Nasir El-Rufai, insisting that he continues to hold the former governor in high regard despite their political differences.
Speaking on Trust TV’s Daily Politics, Sani said he considered it inappropriate to publicise every action he had taken out of respect for El-Rufai. The governor was responding to questions about his perceived silence over his predecessor’s continued detention and whether he feared El-Rufai’s political influence ahead of the 2027 general elections.
“As a matter of respect, many things I’ve done to show my respect for him, my regard for him, I don’t think I should come out and say it. Because when you respect someone, you don’t come out to say certain things,” Sani said. El-Rufai has been in the custody of the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission since February 18, 2026. Attempts to secure his bail have so far been unsuccessful.
During the interview, Sani also distanced himself from a reported comment suggesting that the former governor should remain in detention until after the next general election. He said the person responsible for the remark “was speaking for himself. He’s not speaking for me”.
Sani maintained that he had never spoken against El-Rufai and would not do so, saying his approach reflected his character and respect for political leaders. “This is who I am. When I hold a person in high regard, everything good I have said about him, I stand by it. When I was in the Senate, I said a lot of good things about my leaders, and I stand by them,” he said. “One good thing I am happy about is that people can only quote me saying good things about people, but they have never quoted me saying bad things about my leaders.”
The governor added that he preferred to be remembered for speaking positively about those he respected. “I think it is better you quote me saying good things about my leaders than hear me saying bad things about them. It is something I always pray to God not to let me do. For me, that is my character,” he said.
His remarks come amid a prolonged political disagreement between the former allies, whose relationship deteriorated after Sani succeeded El-Rufai as governor in 2023. El-Rufai, who governed Kaduna from 2015 to 2023, supported Sani’s election to the Senate in 2019 and his subsequent governorship ambition.
Sani had also served as a political adviser during El-Rufai’s first term as governor. However, disagreements became increasingly public following the transition, particularly over the financial obligations Sani said his administration inherited and an investigation launched by the Kaduna State House of Assembly.
In March 2024, Sani said his government inherited $587 million in debt, ₦85 billion in domestic liabilities and 115 contractual liabilities from the previous administration. The assembly subsequently established a committee to examine loans, grants and project implementation during El-Rufai’s eight years in office.
The relationship worsened in February 2025 when El-Rufai publicly said he was no longer friends with Sani. He also criticised the governor’s defence of President Bola Tinubu’s administration, alleging that federal reimbursements and other interventions benefiting Kaduna had influenced Sani’s political position. Sani rejected that suggestion and continued to defend the Federal Government’s interventions.
El-Rufai later left the All Progressives Congress, which he helped establish, and moved into opposition politics. Following a brief period in the Social Democratic Party, he formally joined the African Democratic Congress in November 2025. Sani has remained in the APC, further widening the political divide between them.
The former governor has since become a prominent critic of the Tinubu administration and participated in opposition efforts ahead of the 2027 elections. His continued detention has drawn attention to both the allegations against him and the potential implications for political alignments in Kaduna and across the country.
The ICPC took El-Rufai into custody in February while investigating alleged financial offences. The commission has said his detention is supported by court orders. El-Rufai has challenged aspects of the investigation and his detention and has denied wrongdoing in the cases against him.
In one case, the ICPC accused him, a former aide and five corporate entities of alleged corruption and money laundering connected with an ₦8.68 billion closed-circuit television surveillance contract for Kaduna metropolis. The allegations remain subject to judicial determination.
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