Your anti-APC policies in Kaduna is sending people away, Sani tells el-Rufai
The worsening relationship between Shehu Sani, Senator representing Kaduna Central at the Senate and the State Governor, Nasir el-Rufai, may yet linger.
This is coming against the backdrop of accusation by Sani who has described the policies of the state government as anti-people.
Sani who has remained critical of el-Rufai, spoke to journalists shortly after receiving a complaint from traders on a plan by the government to demolish the famous Kasuwan Barci Market in Kaduna.
“The anti-APC policies of the administration in Kaduna State is sending people away, many people now only have faith in Buhari, not in the party any more.
“Most programmes of government in the state are not in favour of the people and if it continues, APC will pay for it. The current administration’s policies are only designed to please some certain group of people in the state.”
Sani who urged the state government to shelve the market demolition plan, said the action on a market with 4,800 shops and famous for its textile and used clothes at this time of hardship, would spell doom for thousands of families.
“I identify with the pains, concerns and fears of the traders and appeal to the governor to think twice with a human heart over the issue.
“We promised to deliver change to the country and as democrats, whatever we will do, we need to consult and carry the people along. We cannot treat people with arrogance and insolence and expect them to trust us again.”
Tracing the traders’ anger and fear to the possibility of not getting their stalls after the demolition, Sani, who is the Senate Committee Chairman on Domestic and Foreign Debts, advised el-Rufai to suspend the planned demolition and concentrate on completing ongoing projects he had started.
“For all the projects he started, he has not completed any. So, the mistake will be when he demolishes the market and there are no funds to reconstruct it, what will happen to the traders and the place?”
He added that most government activities would shut down by 2018 when political activities begin ahead of the 2019 general elections.
“The market has provided jobs for more than 30,000 men and women, with many youths off the street and engaged in tailoring, craft work and trading. Engage the traders in reconstructing the market by giving them a specific design to reconstruct with a deadline.”
He promised the traders that he would forward a memo to the governor on the issue and urged them to seek dialogue with the government to resolve the matter and seek the intervention of the House of Assembly, religious leaders and human rights organisations.
Sani however, said the traders could seek legal redress if all efforts failed to stop the government’s plan.
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