Elrufai plans to replace his deputy with a ‘Muslim’ from Zaria as he prepares to become VP
Elrufai plans to replace his deputy with a ‘Muslim’ from Zaria as he prepares to become VP
Credible sources very close to the Kaduna State Government have confirmed to LeadersNG that a cabal in the Kaduna State Government has finally succeeded in persuading and prevailing on Mallam Nasir El-Rufai to replace his deputy.
The Kaduna State Deputy Governor, Architect Barnabas Bala Bantex is said to have been critically ill of an unknown disease and has been out of the country on medical vacation in an unknown location since the past three months.
Prior to his medical vacation, Arc Bantex was said to have been sidelined from the Governance of the State by the Governor who is under a very strong influence of cabal running the affairs of the state.
Under the desperate circumstance, Arc Bantex is said to have been compelled by the cabal to opt for a hospital of their choice as opposed to the preferred hospital of the Deputy Governor.
Source close to Bala Bantex reveal that his medical condition is critical. Meanwhile, in his absence on account of ill health, sources confirmed that an arrangement has been concluded to replace him immediately.
The cabal according to LeadersNG sources are already scouting for a young, vibrant Hausa-Fulani technocrat as Deputy Governor should in an event El-Rufai decides to take up the Vice President position at the federal level. The cabal, LeadersNG gathered, do not want the event of 2009 to repeat itself, where after the appointment of Namadi Sambo as Vice President of Nigeria by Former President Goodluck Jonathan, his deputy, Patrick Yekowa, a Christian from Southern Kaduna became the governor automatically.
Meanwhile, a major friction in the Kaduna State Executive Council between some principal officers of the state government has led to an eminent reshuffling of the state executive council. The cabal in the Kaduna State Government comprising of the Secretary to the State Government, Alhaji Balarabe Abbas and the Chief of Staff, Alhaji Bashir Saidu who move up steadily from the State Party Secretary to Commissioner, Ministry of Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs and now Chief of Staff are said to be at a logger ahead with the Special Adviser, Political Affairs to the Governor, Alhaji Uba Sani who was an aide to former President Olusegun Obasanjo.
Alhaji Uba Sani is purported to have been replaced by Alhaji Samaila Lawal Yakawada, former Secretary to the State under the late Governor Yakowa.
Prior to this development, there was a rumor that Uba Sani is nursing a political ambition of ousting and replacing Senator Shehu Sani as Senator representing Kaduna Central by leveraging on the influence of his position as Political Adviser to the Governor and obviously with the support of the Governor, a dream which is now being scuttled by the ongoing political intrigues.
Alhaji Uba Sani has been a major political pillar to the Governor, Nasir El-Rufai but El-Rufai is said to have bowed to pressure from the cabal to replace Uba Sani with Alhaji Samaila Lawal Yakawada. In the ensuing political intrigues, Balarabe Abbas is said not to be comfortable with the nomination of Yakawada to replace Uba Sani as Political Adviser but he is being prevailed upon to accept the choice of Yakawada as a perfect option to fill the perceived gap left by Alhaji Suleiman Othman Hunkuyi, a serving senator representing Kaduna North at the National Assembly who is being vigorously persecuted by the cabal since the inception of the administration obviously with the consent of Mallam El-Rufai.
You would recall that Mallam El-Rufai in a recent press release ascribed the success of his election at the poll in 2015 to the independent and collaborative efforts of Suleiman Othman Hunkuyi, who served as the Director General for El-Rufai Campaign Organization during the 2015 general elections and now a serving Senator representing Kaduna North.
In the considered opinion of the cabal, Yakawada is going to fill in the perceived void left by Senator Hunkuyi who is currently being persecuted by the cabal for their inordinate ambition since the inception of the administration of Mallam El-Rufai.
LeadersNG also learned that the major shakeup which is being spearheaded by the cabal is also expected to affect Suleiman Kwari the Commissioner for Finance whose job has been scheduled to take over the functions of the Commissioner for Budget and Planning, Mohammed Sani (Dattijo), a young man who is being prepared and positioned by the cabal to take over from Governor El-Rufia as he aspires and prepares for national assignment as vice or president of the nation.
Unknown to Suleiman Kwari, the current Commissioner of Finance, El-Rufai is said not to be particularly comfortable and happy with his messy handling of the state school feeding programme which is said to have gulfed about N10b as well as his meddlesome connivance in the recent sales of government houses that generated a lot of controversies.
El-Rufai, according to our sources is also determined to hand Suleiman Kwari to the EFCC for questioning after his exit from the State Executive Council.
El-Rufai has since his inauguration as governor been enmeshed in serious controversies namely; the recent irrational sacking of some traditional royal fathers as well as the poor handling of the challenging crises and issues of Southern Kaduna crises.
Source: Regular news