The government of Kaduna State has said the uncompromising stance of the governor, Mallam Nasir El’Rufai to correct the widespread ills in the state has been a major reason he is hated by many, most especially his political opponents, who issues threats to him on daily basis.The Deputy Governor, Arch Bala Bantex made this known in Abuja during a session in the Nigeria Governors Forum Media Conference which held at the Sandralia Hotel, Jabi.
He said Kaduna was in a state of rot with ineffective governance which encourage corruption and other form of abuses before El Rufa’I became the governor,
He said El’Rufai was determined to clear the rot and set governance of a good cause, whereas those who he said had been feeding fat on the rot has been putting up spirited efforts to frustrate his initiatives and programmes, whipping religious and ethnic sentiments to attain their goals.
The Deputy Governor who described El’Rufa’I as a most understood governor said most of the negative reports about him and his government were mostly concocted to suit the desire of his opponents to denigrate him at all costs.
Bantex said El’Rufai started stepping on toes by his resolve to run open and consultative governance in which case the citizens, according to him, could monitor every activities of government from their different communities to make inputs through specially designed computer applications.
He said the recent attempt by the government of Kaduna State to revive the education sector by putting in place quality teachers in schools was also misunderstood.
According to him, even when it was apparent that many teachers in Kaduna State were of very low grade, prompting the government to take immediate action to remedy the situation, the governor, he stressed, has been facing threats from those who wanted the status quo ante retained.
He said, “The efforts we have been making to improve the quality of teachers in Kaduna state has not been enjoying the kind of support we expect from people in Kaduna State. Certain people had walked up to the governor to tell him that if he continues with the plan to change any teacher in Kaduna, he will lose bid for re-election.
“Some even told him to take a cue from Ekiti State, where former governor, Kayode Fayemi attempted to sack low quality teachers and had to face the consequence of losing his bid to get re-elected.
“El’Rufai is committed to doing the right thing in Kaduna and is not afraid of stepping on toes. Doing the right thing has nothing to do with fear of losing an election. Yes, God is the giver of power, but it is most important to do the right thing”
He recalled that the Kaduna State governor has also been facing challenges from his efforts to improve the internally generated revenue in the state, stating that before he became governor, those saddled with the task of generating revenue for the state were diverting the proceeds into private pockets.
He said with a new innovation put in place by the governor, internally generated revenue in Kaduna state surprisingly shot up to N1 billion monthly, an indication that those in charge before were pocketing the sum montly.
Bantex also spoke on the spate of religious crises in Southern Kaduna, which according to him were mostly instigated by arch opponents of the governor.
El’Rufai, he stressed was never a factor in the escalation of religious crises in Kaduna state, but rather a governor who has been doing his best to prevent such even to his discomfort.
He recalled several instances when El’Rufai set aside security reports and risked his life to visit scenes of religious crises in his efforts to show sympathy and empathy.
He said at a particular time, El’ Rufai insisted on visiting a community in Kafanchan after a blood- letting crisis and escaped being mobbed while vehicles in his convoy were pelted with stones.