Former Kaduna Central Senator, Shehu Sani, has declared that ex-Kaduna State Governor, Nasir El-Rufai, made no contributions to Nigeria’s pro-democracy struggle.
Sani made the remark on Monday while reacting to the ongoing face-off between El-Rufai and the Kaduna State Government over the disruption of the African Democratic Congress (ADC) transition committee inauguration in Kaduna, which was allegedly attacked by hired thugs over the weekend.
During an appearance on Channels Television’s Sunday Politics, El-Rufai accused the state government of sponsoring the attack and claimed that police officers at the scene failed to protect citizens. He also dismissed police claims that the event was shut down because organisers failed to secure official permission.
In response, the Kaduna State Government accused El-Rufai of attempting to destabilise the state. In a statement by the Commissioner for Internal Security and Home Affairs, Suleiman Shuiabu, the government said the former governor’s political gathering on August 30 was “illegal, chaotic, and designed to provoke instability,” alleging that he was determined to drag the state back to its “dark and violent past” after his allies lost the August 16 by-elections.
Speaking later on TVC’s Politics Tonight, Shehu Sani contrasted his own political journey with El-Rufai’s, insisting that while he (Sani) earned his place in democracy through sacrifice, El-Rufai rode into relevance after 1999 through political appointments and party structures.
“For people like Nasir, when they found themselves in a position or office, they don’t know what democracy is all about because they didn’t fight for it,” Sani said.
The former lawmaker recalled his years of activism during military rule, noting that his political path was defined by arrests, imprisonment, and persecution.
“I have been through prisons, through police stations. I wore prison uniforms, I wore leg chains, I wore handcuffs as a political prisoner fighting for this democracy that is now 25 years old,” he said.
Sani stressed that El-Rufai’s rise was through political privilege, not struggle.
“While my own role came through activism, his came through political offices after 1999. That is the difference,” he added.