Kaduna State Governor, Uba Sani, has said he will not disclose the private steps he has taken to demonstrate his respect and support for his detained predecessor, Nasir El-Rufai, insisting that he will not speak ill of the former governor despite their widely reported political differences.
Sani made the remarks 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 (ICPC) since February 18, 2026.
Efforts to secure the former governor’s release on bail have so far been unsuccessful.
Speaking during an interview on Trust TV’s Daily Politics, Sani said he continued to hold El-Rufai in high regard but considered it inappropriate to publicise everything he had done to demonstrate his respect for him.
“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,” the governor said.
He 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 general elections.
The Kaduna governor also distanced himself from a reported statement suggesting that El-Rufai should remain in detention until after the 2027 general elections.
Sani insisted that the individual who made the remark was speaking in a personal capacity and did not represent his position.
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“The person who made the statement was speaking for himself. He’s not speaking for me,” he said.
He maintained that he had never spoken against El-Rufai and would not do so, adding that his conduct towards political leaders was guided by his personal values and respect for those who had held public office before him.
“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 added.
According to Sani, he would rather be remembered for speaking positively about his political leaders than for making disparaging comments about them.
“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,” he said.
Sani’s comments come against the backdrop of a prolonged political fallout between the two men, who were once allies.
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El-Rufai governed Kaduna State from 2015 to 2023 and played a significant role in Sani’s political rise, supporting his election to the Senate in 2019 and his governorship ambition in 2023.
Before becoming governor, Sani also served as a political adviser during El-Rufai’s first term in office.
However, their relationship deteriorated after Sani succeeded El-Rufai in 2023, with disagreements over the state’s finances and the previous administration’s record becoming increasingly public.
In March 2024, Sani disclosed that his administration had inherited $587 million in debt, N85 billion in domestic liabilities and 115 contractual liabilities from the previous government.
The Kaduna State House of Assembly subsequently established a committee to investigate loans, grants and project implementation under the El-Rufai administration between 2015 and 2023.
The disagreements deepened in February 2025 when El-Rufai publicly declared that he was no longer friends with Sani.
He also criticised the governor’s defence of President Bola Tinubu’s administration, alleging that federal reimbursements and other interventions to Kaduna State had influenced Sani’s political position.
Sani rejected the suggestion and continued to defend the Federal Government’s interventions.
The political differences between the former allies widened after El-Rufai left the All Progressives Congress (APC), the party he helped establish, and moved towards the opposition.
After a brief stint with the Social Democratic Party (SDP), El-Rufai formally joined the African Democratic Congress (ADC) in November 2025.
READ ALSO: El-Rufai To Gov Sani: You Are Backing Tinubu For Personal Gains
His defection placed him on a different political platform from Sani, who remains in the APC.
El-Rufai has since emerged as a prominent critic of the Tinubu administration and has participated in opposition political activities ahead of the 2027 general elections.
His detention has consequently attracted considerable attention because of its legal implications and the potential impact on political alignments in Kaduna State and across the country.
El-Rufai was taken into ICPC custody in February 2026 as the commission investigated alleged financial offences. The commission has maintained that his detention was backed by court orders.
The former governor has challenged aspects of the investigation and his detention while denying wrongdoing in the cases against him.
In one of the major cases, the ICPC accused El-Rufai, a former aide and five corporate entities of alleged corruption and money laundering linked to an N8.68 billion closed-circuit television (CCTV) surveillance contract for Kaduna metropolis.
The allegations remain subject to the legal process.