Kaduna State Governor, Uba Sani, has said he will not publicly disclose the private steps he has taken to demonstrate support and respect for his detained predecessor, Nasir El-Rufai, despite the political differences between them.
![](https://thenigerialawyer.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/2026-IDRI-Masterclass.png")
Sani also insisted that he would not speak ill of the former governor, saying his personal approach to political relationships was rooted in respect for people he had previously held in high regard.
The governor spoke on Trust TV’s Daily Politics amid growing scrutiny of his relationship with El-Rufai, who has been in the custody of the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission since February 18, 2026.
Attempts by the former governor to secure bail have so far been unsuccessful.
Sani said he continued to have tremendous respect for El-Rufai and considered it inappropriate to publicise everything he had done privately to demonstrate that regard.
“As a matter of respect, many things I’ve done to show my respect for him, my regard for him, I don’t think I should come out and say it. Because when you respect someone, you don’t come out to say certain things,” he said.
The governor was responding to questions about his perceived silence over El-Rufai’s continued detention and whether he was concerned about the former governor’s political influence ahead of the 2027 elections.
Sani also distanced himself from a comment suggesting that El-Rufai should remain in detention until after the next general election.
According to him, the person “who made the statement was speaking for himself. He’s not speaking for me.”
Sani maintained that he had never spoken against El-Rufai and would not do so.
“This is who I am. When I hold a person in high regard, everything good I have said about him, I stand by it. When I was in the Senate, I said a lot of good things about my leaders, and I stand by them,” he said.
“One good thing I am happy about is that people can only quote me saying good things about people, but they have never quoted me saying bad things about my leaders.
“I think it is better you quote me saying good things about my leaders than hear me saying bad things about them. It is something I always pray to God not to let me do. For me, that is my character.”
The remarks come against the backdrop of a prolonged political fallout between Sani and El-Rufai.
The two men were once close political allies, with El-Rufai playing a role in Sani’s political rise.
El-Rufai, who governed Kaduna State from 2015 to 2023, supported Sani’s election to the Senate in 2019 and later backed his governorship ambition in 2023.
Sani also served as a political adviser during El-Rufai’s first term as governor.
Their relationship, however, deteriorated after Sani succeeded El-Rufai as governor in 2023.
One of the major points of disagreement involved the financial liabilities Sani said his administration inherited from the previous government and the subsequent probe by the Kaduna State House of Assembly into the El-Rufai administration.
In March 2024, Sani said his government inherited $587 million in debt, ₦85 billion in domestic liabilities and 115 contractual liabilities from the previous administration.
The State House of Assembly subsequently constituted a committee to examine loans, grants and project implementation between 2015 and 2023.
The political relationship deteriorated further in February 2025 when El-Rufai publicly said he was no longer friends with Sani.
El-Rufai also criticised Sani’s defence of President Bola Tinubu’s administration, alleging that federal reimbursements and other interventions to Kaduna State had influenced the governor’s political position.
Sani rejected the suggestion and continued to defend the Federal Government’s interventions in the state.
El-Rufai subsequently left the All Progressives Congress, a party he helped establish, and moved into the opposition.
After a brief period in the Social Democratic Party, he formally joined the African Democratic Congress in November 2025.
The move further widened the political divide between El-Rufai and Sani, who remains a member of the APC.
The former Kaduna governor has since become a prominent critic of the Tinubu administration and has participated in opposition political activities ahead of the 2027 general elections.
His detention has attracted attention because of the allegations against him and the wider political implications in Kaduna State and nationally.
El-Rufai was taken into ICPC custody in February as the commission investigated alleged financial offences.
The commission has maintained that his detention is backed by court orders.
El-Rufai has challenged aspects of the investigation and detention and has denied wrongdoing in the cases against him.
In one of the major cases involving the former governor, the ICPC accused El-Rufai, a former aide and five corporate entities of alleged corruption and money laundering in connection with an ₦8.68 billion closed-circuit television surveillance contract for Kaduna metropolis.
Despite the political differences and the legal proceedings involving his predecessor, Sani maintained that he would not publicly attack El-Rufai or disclose what he described as private efforts made on his behalf.
[A MUST HAVE] Evidence Act Demystified With Recent And Contemporary Cases And Materials
Available now for NGN 40,000 at ASC Publications, 10, Boyle Street, Onikan, Lagos. Beside High Court, TBS. Email publications@ayindesanni.com or WhatsApp +2347056667384. Purchase Link: https://paystack.com/buy/evidence-act-complete-annotation
______________________________________________________________________ “Enhance Legal Practice With Authoritative Reports” — Alexander Payne Offers Comprehensive Law Reports, Spanning Over A Century Of Nigerian Jurisprudence
Interested buyers are encouraged to place their orders and enquiries via:
0704 444 4777, 0704 444 4999, 0818 199 9888
Website: www.alexandernigeria.com
