BY TAIBAT UMMI YAKUBU
Kaduna State Governor, Uba Sani, has defended his decision not to publicly discuss the private steps he has taken to show support for his detained predecessor, Nasir El-Rufai, insisting that their political differences have not changed the respect he holds for the former governor.
Sani made the remarks during an interview on Trust TV’s Daily Politics, amid growing questions about his relationship with El-Rufai, who has been in the custody of the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) since February 18, 2026.
The governor said he considered it inappropriate to publicise every action he had taken to demonstrate his regard for El-Rufai, arguing that genuine respect should not always require public declarations.
“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,” Sani said, adding that he had no intention of speaking negatively about the former governor.
He also distanced himself from a reported statement suggesting that El-Rufai should remain in detention until after the 2027 general elections. According to Sani, the individual who made the comment was expressing a personal position and did not speak on his behalf.
The governor maintained that his approach to political relationships was shaped by his personal principles, insisting that he had consistently spoken positively about his political leaders and intended to maintain that record.
He recalled his time in the Senate, where he said he had publicly praised those who led him, adding that he would rather be remembered for his positive remarks about political associates than for attacking them.
How Former Allies Became Political Opponents
The governor’s comments come against the background of a bitter political fallout between the two men, who were once close allies.
El-Rufai governed Kaduna State from 2015 to 2023 and supported Sani’s political ambitions, first backing his election to the Senate in 2019 and later his emergence as governor in 2023. Sani had also served as a political adviser during El-Rufai’s first term in office.
Their relationship, however, deteriorated after Sani took over the state government, particularly over disagreements surrounding the financial position inherited by the new administration and investigations into the previous government.
In March 2024, Sani said his administration inherited $587 million in debt, ₦85 billion in domestic liabilities and 115 contractual liabilities from the El-Rufai government.
The Kaduna State House of Assembly subsequently established a committee to examine loans, grants and project implementation during the eight years El-Rufai was in office.
The dispute became more public in February 2025, when El-Rufai declared that he was no longer friends with Sani. He also criticised the governor’s defence of President Bola Tinubu’s administration and alleged that federal interventions and reimbursements to Kaduna State had influenced Sani’s political position.
Sani rejected that suggestion and continued to defend the Federal Government’s interventions.
The political divide widened further after El-Rufai left the All Progressives Congress (APC) and moved towards the opposition. Following a brief stint with the Social Democratic Party, he formally joined the African Democratic Congress (ADC) in November 2025, positioning himself among the critics of the Tinubu administration ahead of the 2027 elections.
Sani, meanwhile, remains in the APC.
Detention Adds Another Layer to Political Tensions
El-Rufai’s continued detention has added another dimension to the strained relationship, with questions emerging over whether political differences have affected the response of his former allies.
The former governor has been in ICPC custody since February 18, 2026, as the commission investigates alleged financial offences. The commission has said his detention is backed by court orders, while El-Rufai has challenged aspects of the investigation and detention and denied wrongdoing in the cases against him.
In one of the major cases, the ICPC accused El-Rufai, a former aide and five corporate entities of alleged corruption and money laundering linked to an ₦8.68 billion closed-circuit television surveillance contract for Kaduna metropolis.
The allegations remain matters for the legal process to determine.
Although Sani did not disclose the specific steps he said he had taken to demonstrate his regard for El-Rufai, his latest remarks offer a glimpse into how he wants his position to be understood amid the political rift.
For now, the Kaduna governor insists that whatever has happened between the former allies, he will not publicly turn against the man who once supported his political rise.
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