The Kaduna State Government has dismissed claims by a former governor, Nasir El-Rufai, that all the projects recently commissioned by President Bola Tinubu in the state were initiated during his administration.
El-Rufai, who governed Kaduna from 2015 to 2023, had in a media interview on Monday stated that the projects inaugurated last Thursday by President Tinubu were legacies of his (El-Rufai’s) tenure.
However, in a swift response, Ibraheem Musa, the Chief Press Secretary to Governor Uba Sani, described the former governor’s claim as a “bare-faced lie” and an attempt to distort verifiable facts.
Musa, in a statement issued Tuesday, explained that the projects in question were either initiated or completed under the current administration.
He noted that during President Tinubu’s visit, three major projects were inaugurated — the Institutes of Vocational Training and Skills Development located in Soba, Rigachikun, and Samaru Kataf; the 300-bed Bola Tinubu Specialist Hospital; and the deployment of 100 Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) buses.
According to the statement, the vocational institutes — the Abdulkadir Balarabe Musa Institute in Rigachikun, Col. Dangiwa Umar Institute in Soba, and Sir Patrick Ibrahim Yakowa Institute in Samaru Kataf — are part of Governor Sani’s human capital development agenda aimed at equipping youths with practical skills.
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The facilities, it said, were designed to empower 36,000 youths annually with modern, industry-standard training.
The National Board for Technical Education (NBTE), the government said, has certified the institutes as the best-equipped skills development centres in Nigeria.
NBTE’s Executive Secretary, Prof. Idris Bugaje, was quoted as affirming that no polytechnic or university of technology in the country rivals the facilities available in these centres, describing Kaduna as “the hub of skills development in Nigeria”.
The state government further clarified that the 300-bed Bola Ahmed Tinubu Specialist Hospital was originally initiated by the administration of Namadi Sambo, but was left uncompleted by successive governments until the current administration took over.
Upon assumption of office, Governor Sani reportedly met the hospital at 53 per cent completion, without any medical equipment.
“Despite the huge sums that had allegedly been spent, the uncompleted facility had become a symbol of waste, mismanagement, and abandonment,” the statement said.
It added that the hospital’s completion and equipping became a priority under Governor Sani’s broader healthcare revitalisation programme, which also includes the rehabilitation of various general hospitals across the state.
These efforts, the government said, are already improving healthcare access and helping to reduce multidimensional poverty.
Describing the facility as a “signature achievement,” the statement noted that President Tinubu was “effusive in his praise” of Governor Sani’s impact on the health sector during the commissioning.
On transportation, the government said the 100 CNG buses were introduced as part of Governor Sani’s measures to cushion the effects of fuel subsidy removal.
The buses offer free rides for workers, retirees, and students for the first six months, with significantly subsidised fares for the general public afterward.
The Kaduna State Government expressed disappointment over El-Rufai’s remarks, stating that the facts are publicly verifiable and that “no amount of revisionism can rewrite the truth”.
