Only anti-graft agencies can question our findings, Kaduna Assembly tells El-rufai’s appointees

From: Femi Oyelola , Kaduna

The Kaduna State House of Assembly adhoc committee which investigated the eight years of Nasir El-rufai-led government has declared that only anti-graft bodies can validate or disapprove their findings levelled against the former government of Nasir El-rufai and not individuals or political appointees.
The fact-finding committee was reacting to a press conference addressed by some senior political appointees of the immediate past administration held in Abuja on Tuesday.
The commissioner had said that the alleged N423bn leveled against them by the probe panel was just their imagination, as there was nothing like that in the financial records of the last administration which they served between 2015 and 2023.
However, reacting to the former political appointees’ claims, the chairman of the probe committee who is also the Deputy Speaker, Barrister Henry Magaji, said in a statement made available to newsmen in Kaduna on Wednesday that the former political appointees made strenuous efforts to pick holes in the report of the probe committee.
According to the statement, “They resorted to name calling and wild allegations on the motivations for the House Probe. We wish to state as follows:
“That the press conference was just a rehash of the vituperations and innuendoes heaped on us by the former political appointees in their first press briefing. There was nothing new that should warrant our response. They failed to address the main issue, which is the systematic and coordinated cornering of the resources of Kaduna State through phony contracts and outright looting.
“That the State House of Assembly, in line with its constitutional mandate and response to public demand, carried out a thorough probe into the humongous debts incurred by the immediate past administration without commensurate projects.
“We dug deep and unearthed the monumental heist carried out in Kaduna State in the guise of project execution. Our findings revealed a litany of poorly executed projects, abandoned projects, and projects that exist only in the imagination of executive scammers.
“We have called on anti-corruption agencies to step in and invite indicted persons for questioning.
“It is the anti-corruption agencies that can either validate or disprove our findings, not individuals who spent their days in public office cornering the common patrimony of the people of Kaduna State and mortgaging the future of its children and grandchildren.”
The statement however urged the former political appointees to deploy their energies towards preparing their defences before the anti-corruption agencies, and eventually the courts.
“The House of Assembly is not in a battle of wits with them. We have done our duty to the people of Kaduna State. Let them answer to the charges of malfeasance, abuse of office, disrespect for the law, and due process leveled against them.
“We are currently in court with the head of the indicted administration, Malam Nasir El-Rufai over the issue of fair hearing. We shall not comment on the matter because it is sub-judice. We stand for the rule of law and due process.
“We are elected representatives of the people. We are accountable to the people. We have a constitutional responsibility to make laws and carry out functions for the welfare, safety, and security of the people. The probe carried out by the House is in furtherance of the oath we took to advance the interests of the people of Kaduna State.
“The few political appointees who have been making desperate but futile moves to denigrate the House and cover up the alleged fraud perpetrated by the previous government represent no one but themselves.
“If they genuinely have the interest of Kaduna State and are truly men and women of integrity, they would have applied themselves to developing the state instead of participating in the alleged pilfering of its scarce resources.”