Kaduna State Governor, Uba Sani, has refused to disclose the private steps he has taken to support his detained predecessor, Nasir El-Rufai, insisting that he will not speak ill of the former governor despite their political differences.
Sani made the remarks amid 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.
Speaking on Trust TV’s Daily Politics programme, the governor said he still held El-Rufai in high regard but considered it inappropriate to publicise everything he had done to demonstrate his respect.
“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.
Sani 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.
He also distanced himself from a reported comment suggesting that El-Rufai should remain in detention until after the next general election.
“The person who made the statement was speaking for himself. He’s not speaking for me,” Sani said.
The governor maintained that he had never spoken against El-Rufai and would not do so, describing respect for political leaders as a matter of personal character.
“When I hold a person in high regard, everything good I have said about him, I stand by it,” he said.
Sani added that he preferred to be remembered for speaking positively about his political leaders rather than criticising them.
The remarks come amid a prolonged political fallout between the two men, who were once allies.
El-Rufai, who governed Kaduna State from 2015 to 2023, supported Sani’s election to the Senate in 2019 and his governorship bid in 2023. Sani had also served as a political adviser during El-Rufai’s first term as governor.
However, their relationship deteriorated after Sani succeeded El-Rufai in 2023, with disagreements emerging over the financial liabilities inherited by the new administration and a probe into the previous government.
In March 2024, Sani said his administration inherited $587 million in debt, N85 billion in domestic liabilities and 115 contractual liabilities from the El-Rufai government.
The Kaduna State House of Assembly subsequently established a committee to investigate loans, grants and project implementation between 2015 and 2023.
The rift widened in February 2025 when El-Rufai publicly declared that he was no longer friends with Sani. He also criticised the governor’s support for President Bola Tinubu’s administration and alleged that federal reimbursements and other interventions to Kaduna influenced Sani’s political position.
Sani rejected the suggestion and continued to defend the Federal Government’s interventions.
El-Rufai later left the All Progressives Congress (APC) and joined the African Democratic Congress (ADC) in November 2025 after a brief stint with the Social Democratic Party (SDP). His move further deepened the political divide between the former allies, as Sani remains in the APC.
El-Rufai has since emerged as a vocal critic of the Tinubu administration and a prominent figure in opposition politics ahead of the 2027 elections.
The former governor was taken into ICPC custody in February 2026 as the commission investigated alleged financial offences. The commission said his detention was backed by court orders.
In one of the 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 surveillance contract for Kaduna metropolis.
El-Rufai has denied wrongdoing and challenged aspects of the investigation and his detention. Attempts to secure his release on bail have so far been unsuccessful.