Former Kaduna State Governor Nasir El-Rufai launched a strong verbal attack on his successor, Governor Uba Sani, and the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) on Thursday following the arrest of his former commissioner, Jafaru Ibrahim Sani, by the police in Kaduna.
Sani, who held various roles in El-Rufai’s administration, including Commissioner for Environment and Natural Resources, Education, Science and Technology, and Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs, was allegedly arrested on the orders of the state government.
A source close to Sani confirmed the arrest, expressing surprise and speculating that it might be related to Sani’s recent defection from the APC to the Social Democratic Party (SDP) alongside El-Rufai.
“We are shocked and concerned about the arrest of Jafaru Sani. We do not know the reasons for his arrest, but we suspect it may be connected to his recent defection from the APC to the SDP,” the source said.
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On March 10, 2025, Sani had publicly announced his defection from the APC, citing dissatisfaction with the party’s leadership in Kaduna
“I am disappointed with the direction of the APC in Kaduna State. The party has lost its way, and I can no longer continue to be a part of it,” he wrote in his resignation letter.
At the time of the report, the police in Kaduna had not issued an official statement regarding Sani’s arrest, and DSP Abubakar Aliyu, the police spokesperson, was unreachable for comment.
Reacting on X (formerly Twitter), El-Rufai accused the state government of orchestrating the “abduction” of his former aide.
He claimed that Sani was being persecuted for defecting from the APC to the SDP.
“Our colleague and versatile former commissioner during the El-Rufai administration, Mallam Jafaru Sani, has been abducted in Kaduna by Uba Sani’s kidnapping gang claiming to be the police this afternoon!” El-Rufai tweeted.
El-Rufai further alleged that Sani had been remanded in prison custody by a magistrate without formal charges from either the police or the state’s Ministry of Justice.
“On inquiry, we have learned that Jafaru is being charged with money laundering—a federal offence that neither the state judiciary nor the police have jurisdiction to adjudicate or investigate,” El-Rufai added.
He compared Sani’s arrest to that of his former Chief of Staff, Bashir Saidu, who was allegedly held for 50 days before being granted bail.
“The tactics are similar to those used against another colleague of ours—Bashir Saidu—when he was abducted on December 31, 2024, and kept in captivity for 50 days before he was released on bail,” El-Rufai noted.
El-Rufai also criticized the Kaduna judiciary, accusing some magistrates and high court judges of being compromised.
“The ignominious role of some henpecked and compromised magistrates and high court judges in the Kaduna State judiciary remains a source of great concern to us,” he wrote, adding that those involved would eventually be held accountable for their actions.
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