Yusuph Olaniyonu, a media aide to former Senate President Bukola Saraki, has condemned comments made by Kaduna State Governor Nasir El‑Rufai. In an interview with Arise TV on Wednesday, El‑Rufai accused the former Kwara State governor of frustrating the All Progressives Congress (APC) restructuring plan through a constitutional amendment while Saraki was Senate President. Olaniyonu, head of the Abubakar Bukola Saraki Media Office, called the allegation false and suggested it reflected the governor’s habit of making excuses and shifting blame for his and his party’s failures.
In a statement released early Saturday, Olaniyonu noted that Saraki left the Senate Presidency about 44 months ago. During that period, El‑Rufai and his party have had the Senate President and the type of Senate they desire, yet they have accomplished nothing to restructure Nigeria. The “excellent” report of El‑Rufai’s committee has not been translated into bills or assented to by the President, despite his claim that the committee drafted restructuring bills.
The statement urged El‑Rufai to explain whether Saraki is responsible for the heightened insecurity that has spread from the Northeast to the entire country under the APC administration. It also asked the governor to address claims that the former Senate President is to blame for the collapsing economy, soaring inflation, rising cost of living, low standards of living, endemic poverty, the exchange rate’s jump from N200 to N740 per dollar, high youth unemployment, oil theft, excessive government borrowing, and growing disunity among Nigeria’s component units.
Olaniyonu highlighted that the 8th National Assembly began the constitutional amendment process in February 2016, establishing committees that traveled nationwide, produced reports, and drafted bills. By 2018, President Muhammadu Buhari had begun assenting to constitutional amendment bills; of the 32 bills considered, 24 secured the required votes in both chambers, but only 12 received approval from state Houses of Assembly, with El‑Rufai himself among the governors who frustrated most of them. Ultimately, the President assented to five of the twelve bills and rejected seven.
The statement questioned how Kaduna State has implemented important restructuring bills passed by the 8th National Assembly, such as the Financial Autonomy for State Legislature and Judiciary Act. It argued that if the APC intended to amend the constitution for restructuring, the agenda was a low priority, given that the proposal emerged three years into a term that had less than a year remaining.
Finally, Olaniyonu called on El‑Rufai to explain why the APC government to which he belongs has failed to provide good governance and why the party struggles to attract voters. He warned that the governor’s role as a spokesperson for a faltering presidential campaign, marked by threats, abuses, and lies, will soon face a reckoning, and that Nigerians will not reward failure or cheap falsehoods.
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