El-Rufai says APC government will make corrupt politicians return every kobo they stole

KADUNA State governor-elect Mallam Nasir El-Rufai has revealed that the incoming government of General Muhammadu Buhari will ask corrupt politicians to return every kobo stolen by them as it will be inheriting huge debts that need to be cleared.

 

Mallam El-Rufai, a former Federal Capital Territory (FCT) minister in the Obasanjo administration, is close to General Buhari and as the assistant secretary of the All Progressives Congress (APC), is a party spokesman. Speaking in Kaduna yesterday, he said that the Buhari administration would inherit a huge debt from the Goodluck Jonathan government and needed to recover stolen money to pay it off.

 

Addressing executive members of the National Union of Textile Garments and Tailoring Workers of Nigeria, who visited him in Kaduna, Mallam El-Rufai said politicians must be ready to return all ill-gotten funds after May 29. He added that those politicians who were not corrupt had no cause to fear the incoming APC government.

 

Mallam El-Rufai said: “We will politely ask those who stole government money to return the funds because the people, who are in government now, are there to work for themselves. However, the APC government is made up of people who are ready to work for the masses and the betterment of the country."

 

He also decried the poor state of the textile industry in Kaduna State and gave assurances that his administration would revamp it. Mallam El-Rufai lamented the current employment figure of 1,600 people in the textile sector, describing it as unacceptable, adding that the textile industry in Kaduna alone used to employ about 33,000 workers.

 

 “We have met at a forum of northern governors-elect and we decided to ensure the revival of the textile industry. It is a shame that the largest economy in Africa imports textile materials from Senegal and other countries,” Mallam El-Rufai added.

 

According to him, the APC government will revive the industry so that it can generate employment and impact on the lives of the people. Oladele Hunsu, the union's president, recalled Mallam El-Rufai’s feat as FCT minister and urged him to do likewise with the textile industry.