Former lawmaker Senator Shehu Sani, has issued a scathing rebuttal to recent criticisms from opposition figures, particularly former Kaduna State Governor Nasir El-Rufai, who recently claimed that Nigeria is being run by bandits.
In a fiery address reported by TVC News Nigeria, Senator Sani accused El-Rufai and other opposition leaders of hypocrisy and opportunism. He argued that their current criticisms of the government are rooted not in principle but in bitterness over exclusion from power.
“If they were accommodated by the system, they would have been the frontline vanguard of championing whatever anti-people’s policies they are criticizing now,” Sani said. “They have always been at the forefront of promoting such things.”
He further accused the former governor of exacerbating insecurity and poverty in the state, citing mass demolitions of markets and homes, imposition of harsh taxes on the poor, and systemic marginalization of certain ethnic and regional groups during his eight-year tenure.
“This was a man who demolished markets and the homes of poor people without compensation. He marginalized a section of the state like the way blacks were treated in apartheid South Africa,” Sani said. “Now this same man is talking about poverty?”
Responding directly to El-Rufai’s comment about Nigeria being governed by bandits, Sani fired back: “Who was the patriarch of banditry in northwestern Nigeria other than El-Rufai? Paying bandits became the basis and the precipitation of banditry in the region.”
Sani concluded by urging the people of Nigeria to reject what he described as “divisive tactics” from leaders who had failed to address the region’s socio-economic problems when they held power.
The remarks have ignited political tensions as the country continues to grapple with rising insecurity and public disillusionment with political leadership.
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