El-Rufai sues newspaper over report on alleged N90 billion assets

The Kaduna state governor, Nasir El-Rufai, on Monday sued The Union newspaper, based in Lagos, for reporting that he declared assets worth N90billion before the Code of Conduct Bureau.

The governor, who personally filed the case at the state High Court, was accompanied by his deputy, Bala Bantex, his lawyers and top government officials.

Speaking shortly after signing the writ of summons at the court registry, Mr. El-Rufai denied having assets worth N90 billion.

He described The Union newspaper story as “untrue and malicious”.

“Let them come and prove that I am as rich as they claimed,” he said. “I hope I lose the suit because if I have all these money, I would do a lot more for Kaduna State with the money.”

Although he told reporters that he had declared his asset even before his swearing in on May 29, he, however, did not disclose the total amount of assets declared at the Code of Conduct Bureau.

The Union newspaper had on June 1 published a story alleging that Mr. El-Rufai declared assets worth N90billion, including 40 mansions scattered across the country.

He said: “I am here to sign papers to file a suit against a newspaper publication that claimed falsely that I declared N90bn as my assets and that I had forty mansions in Abuja.

“It has taken a bit of time for the lawyers to put together the papers but we are definitely suing them. Let them come and prove that I am as rich as they claimed.

“No one can be sworn into office as governor without declaring his assets. So, every governor in Nigeria; every elected officials must have declared his assets before the chief judge swears him in. It is not even a question requiring an answer.”

We’ll Bring Down el-Rufai’s Govt, Beggars Threaten

Some Beggars who besieged the NUJ Secretariat in Kaduna on Monday said they had used proceeds from begging to facilitate the election of Governor El Rufai of Kaduna State and promised to bring down his government should he insist on stopping them from begging - their means of livelihood.

They said the governor had not provided any alternative to them.

Addressing the Press in Kaduna under the aegis of Kaduna State Beggars Association, the beggars said if they knew that El Rufai would stop them from begging and would show no care about their welfare afterwards, they would never have voted him in.

The leader of the group, Mallam Yahaya Makaho, a visually challenged person who spoke on behalf of the group said: “I want to swear on my honour that I personally used my proceeds from begging to canvass for the support of El Rufai. I used my money to mobilise for his support, both on the streets and where I usually teach my students, and I am not alone in my group that made that sacrifice.

“We decided to support El Rufai, because we were tired of the then governor, (Mukhtar Ramalan Yero) who did not show any regards for our survival.

We worked hard, spent money and prayed and God heard or prayers and brought down Yero.

“Now, it would appear that we made a mistake. The new governor wants to bring us down.

“He does not want us to live. He has chased us out of the streets and has made no alternative arrangement for our survival.

“Look, some of us here have between three and four wives and many children.

“How can you lock up such a man, who must resort to begging because he has found himself incapable of doing any other thing?

“We are asking the governor to rescind this decision now or find ways to meet our basic needs.

“If he refuses to heed this demand, we shall make sure we bring down his government.”

It could be recalled that Mallam El Rufai stopped street begging, saying he would provide an abode for them where they would stay rather than them begging on the street.

He also maintained that beggars and hawkers are used by terrorists to innocently courier bombs for them.