A file photo of Kaduna State Governor, Nasir El-Rufai. Photo: Twitter
Kaduna State Governor, Nasir El-Rufai, has held an emergency security meeting with heads of security agencies over renewed attacks in some parts of the state.
The meeting held on Friday at the Government House in Kaduna, two days after over 20 people were killed in Kajuru Local Government Area of the state.
After about four hours of deliberation behind closed doors, the Commissioner of Police in Kaduna, Umar Muri, gave an update on what was discussed.
The member of the House of Representatives representing Kajuru/ Chikun Federal Constituency, Danjuma Barde, as well as District Head of Kufana, Titus Dauda, also briefed reporters on the outcome of the meeting.
They called on all warring parties involved in the conflict to sheath their swords and assured them that the government was working to bring the attacks to an end.
According to them, there cannot be any development when there is mutual suspicion among the Hausas, Fulanis, and the Adara people living in Kajuru.
They, therefore, appealed to all parties involved in the crisis to champion the course of peace and reconciliation.
The meeting also had in attendance the state deputy governor, Hadiza Balarabe, leadership of the Nigerian Army and the Department of State Services (DSS) in Kaduna, as well as political leaders and traditional rulers.
The state government had imposed an indefinite curfew across the state since March 26, to curb the spread of coronavirus (COVID-19) in Kaduna.
Despite the movement restriction, a group of armed men attacked four communities in Kajuru LGA on Tuesday, killing 15 people with five others left injured.
Barely a day later, armed men invaded three more villages also in Kajuru during which they killed eight people and injured several others.
A file photo of Kaduna State Governor, Nasir El-Rufai.
Kaduna State has recorded two more deaths from the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.
The state governor, Nasir El Rufai, revealed in a late-night tweet on Saturday that the fatalities were reported in Makarfi and Zaria Local Government Areas of the state.
He explained that the deaths involved a senior citizen from Makarfi and a lady from Zaria.
Governor El-Rufai also disclosed that two more persons have tested positive for COVID-19, bringing the total number of active cases in the state to 87.
According to him, the two new cases include a male from Igabi and a female from Chikun Local Government Area of Kaduna.
KADUNA UPDATE: Two more persons have tested positive, a male from Igabi and a female from Chikun. Two fatalities have also been recorded: a senior citizen from Makarfi and a lady from Zaria.
Kaduna State now has 87 active Covid-19 cases and three fatalities.
The state recorded its first death from COVID-19 on May 2 – a retired civil servant.
The victim was said to have concealed his travel history to Kano and died before the result of his test came out.
This brings the number of deaths from COVID-19 in the state to three.
Last week, the government raised an alarm that a majority of the COVID-19 cases in Kaduna have a travel history and that illegal inter-state travel was widening the spread of the disease in the state.
A statement issued by the spokesman for the governor, Muyiwa Adekeye, said the illegal travels have increased the danger of community transmission.
It stated that more infections have been reported in some mainly rural local governments on the borders of the state.
The statement quoted the Standing Committee on COVID-19 in Kaduna as appealing for the vigilance and active involvement of all citizens in the effort to curb the spread of the disease.
The Kaduna State Governor, Nasir El-Rufai, has said that 65 out of the 169 almajiris brought back to the state have tested positive for the coronavirus.
The governor said this on Wednesday during an interview on Channels TV’s Politics Today.
“We received 169 almajiris from Kano, of Kaduna State origin, and we immediately quarantined them because of the situation that we are aware of in Kano.
“Out of the 169 so far, 65 were positive for coronavirus,” he said.
The governor had earlier explained that the Northern State Governors’ Forum had taken a decision at a meeting three weeks ago, that they would put a stop to the almajiri system in the region.
According to him, part of the steps taken was to repatriate all almajiris back to their states of origin.
“What we agreed on as governors, is that each state governor will take delivery of these almajiris and return them to their parents and ensure that they go to school”.
In Kaduna State, he confirmed that over 30,000 had been repatriated to their own states.
“We have repatriated over 30,000 who are from other states in the north, back to their states and we are happy to receive any almajiri from any state of the federation that is indigenous to Kaduna State”.
El-Rufai, however, said: “the only thing we request is that they should be brought in officially by the state government.
“They should be brought to the Kaduna State Government on a bilateral basis, so that we know when they are coming, we can prepare to receive them, we test them and so on,” he added.
For the 169 who have been repatriated to the state so far, the governor said, the state is happy to receive them.
According to him, they would soon be taken back to their parents and sent back to school when schools re-open.
“We are happy to receive them, they are being treated and infact two of them have already tested negative and they will be taken to their parents soon so that they go to school when schools re-open.
“It is a big problem but we are happy to receive them because it is our duty to ensure that they go to school”.
File photo of the Kaduna State Governor, Nasir El-Rufai
The Kaduna State Government has announced that it will pay daily incentives to frontline health workers and also provide them with additional insurance coverage for death and disability.
This was disclosed in a statement issued on Saturday by the state’s Commissioner of Health, Dr Amina Baloni.
According to Dr Baloni, high-risk staff will receive a compensation of N15,000 per day, while Medium risk staff will receive N10,000 per day and low-risk staff will receive N5,000 per day.
The statement also said that “the insurance package includes death benefit of N5million, disability benefit of N2.5m and COVID-19 infection cover of N100,000 daily for 10 days.’’
“This package has been enhanced from the initial set of benefits kindly donated by Leadway Assurance. Kaduna State Government is paying additional premiums to increase the assured sum for death and disability to the amounts stated above,” she said, adding that the Occupational Safety Incentive takes effect from April 2020.
The commissioner also commended health workers in the state for their dedication and professionalism in the efforts to contain and manage the COVID-19.
Meanwhile, she stated that Governor Nasir El-Rufai “has also paid a personal tribute to the medical professionals from the Ministry of Health, Barau Dikko Teaching Hospital and Ahmadu Bello University Teaching Hospitals who successfully treated him when he was infected by COVID-19.”
The private sector-led Coalition Against COVID-19 (CA-COVID), has donated N900million worth of food items to Kaduna State, the governor, Nasir El-Rufai has said.
According to him, this is the largest donation made to the state so far since the country began its battle against the COVID-19.
“The largest donation of food came from CA-COVID – the private sector group, led by Aliko Dangote group and others.
“They are providing N900 million worth of food items to Kaduna State. Our public servants are contributing about 700 million, the state government has raised 400 million from other donors,” the governor said on Saturday on a special state of the nation programme, The Platform.
Speaking further, he highlighted some major steps that the state is taking to curb the spread of the virus.
One of the steps include building a permanent infectious disease hospital which he believes will serve, even post-COVID-19.
“The one we have is just 16 beds, we are building a 199 bed-infectious diseases hospital which will be completed in the next eight weeks, the governor said.
“We are building infectious diseases wards in each of our general hospitals in each of the 23 local governments which will be 20 to 30 beds in each of the local governments and the main one here in Kaduna (the capital)”.
For the health workers on the front lines of the COVID-19, the governor said an insurance cover of N5 million has been provided for families of any health worker who dies in the line of duty.
“We took extraordinary steps to get PPE’s for our health workers. We’ve also insured their lives to the tune of N5 million – anyone that dies in this process, their family would get N5 million and we have also disability insurance for those that get sick and can’t work,” El-Rufai said.
According to him, even if livelihood and the economy, among other things would be affected, preserving the lives of residents from the virus has remained a priority.
“We had a trilemma on what to prioritise. Would it be lives, livelihood or liberty? We prioritised saving the lives of people,” he said.
“From day one, we decided that no matter what it costs us, we will do whatever we can to protect the people of Kaduna State.
“We’ll inconvenience people but apologise later. We’ll affect livelihoods negatively but apologise later and try to rebuild those livelihoods.
“The entire number of ICU beds in Nigeria at the onslaught of this pandemic was 350 for the entire country and in Kaduna we just have about 20 ICU beds.
“So, how are we going to handle the situation if we have 1,000 people requiring treatment.
“So, our best strategy was to prevent the spread of the virus,” he stressed.
Challenges determining who is poor
Governor El-Rufai also noted that food and other relief items are being distributed to the general public, especially the poor.
“We drew five million from the contingency fund of our 2020 budget and bought food items, packaged them and targeted nine urban local governments because most of those that are vulnerable are the urban poor because those that came from the urban areas to the cities looking for work.
“We are distributing food of approximately N2 billion to all the 23 local governments”.
The governor, however, admitted that there has been a challenge of identifying who the poor is because there isn’t any database to determine that.
Community leaders had been appointed to determine that but according to the governor, the process didn’t yield accurate results.
He, therefore, noted that going forward, the state would determine the poorest in the state by using their phone recharge purchase records.
“We believe that anyone that anyone that spends less than N200 per month on buying recharge card for his phone is poor and will need this food intervention”.
Kaduna State Governor, Nasir El-Rufai speaks at the state’s Economic and Investment Summit on April 3, 2019.
Kaduna State Governor, Nasir El-Rufai, has issued an Executive Order making the wearing of nose masks in public compulsory for all citizens of the state.
Governor El-Rufai issued the directive shortly after he was discharged by his doctors almost after three weeks in isolation.
The governor noted that with the amendment to the State Quarantine Regulations, his administration will make nose masks available to the poor and vulnerable groups.
He however encouraged those that can afford it do so in order to protect them, their loved ones and everyone else from the spread of this disease.
While reiterating the commitment of the state government to curtail the spread of the virus in the state, El-Rufa appealed to the people to stay at home, observe social distancing and proper personal hygiene.
The Governor of Kaduna State, Nasir El-Rufai has tested positive for the coronavirus disease.
He announced this in a video posted on his verified Twitter handle on Saturday evening.
“Earlier this week, I submitted a sample for the COVID-19 test. The result came in this evening, and I regret to say that it is positive,” the governor said.
“According to the protocols for managing COVID-19, I am in self-isolation as required by the case management guidelines of the NCDC for someone that is not showing symptoms.
“I wish to appeal to the people of Kaduna State to continue to closely observe the preventive measures already announced.
“It is most important that everybody should do their utmost to stay safe, stay home and stay alive”.
KADUNA UPDATE: Malam Nasir @elrufai has disclosed that he has tested positive for Covid-19. He is in self-isolation as required by the case management guidelines of the NCDC for a someone that is not showing symptoms. pic.twitter.com/5lqfvWc4zv
According to him, the Deputy Governor is chairing the COVID-19 Taskforce and will continue to issue statements from time to time.
He is the second governor to test positive for the virus.
Earlier in the week, the Bauchi State Governor, Bala Mohammed announced that he had tested positive to the virus and days later, a close friend of his also tested positive.
Kaduna State Governor, Nasir El-Rufai, visits villages in Giwa Local Government Area where over 50 people were killed by gunmen who invaded communities on Sunday.
Governor Nasir El-Rufai has vowed to wipe out bandits in Kaduna state as the death toll from communities attacked rises to 51.
Gunmen suspected to be bandits attacked some villages in Igabi and Giwa local government areas of the State on Sunday, shooting sporadically and burning down houses and vehicles.
Sources said that the bandits launched the attacks in what seems like revenge against the villagers who they accused of providing information to security agencies.
Photo of some vehicles and motorcycles burnt by bandits in Kaduna state on Sunday.
During a visit to some of the affected villages on Monday, Governor El-Rufai insisted that his administration will not succumb to granting the bandits amnesty.
He assured the villagers that troops of the Nigerian military will be stationed in the villages to provide adequate security.
However, the villagers told Governor El-Rufai that the bandits are believed to have come from Katsina state to attack them.
The Supreme Court on Wednesday affirmed the election of Nasir El-Rufai as Kaduna State governor.
In a unanimous judgment delivered by Justice Centus Nweze, the appeal filed by Mr Isa Ashiru of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) challenging the election is lacking in merit and it is therefore dismissed.
The Court of Appeal sitting in Kaduna State had earlier in November dismissed an appeal by Ashiru challenging the verdict of the election petitions tribunal which affirmed El-Rufai’s victory at the 2019 election in the state.
The court ruled that El-Rufai was duly re-elected as Governor of Kaduna State.
Ashiru then headed to the Supreme Court which eventually affirmed the ruling of the Court of Appeal.
Kidnapping on Abuja-Kaduna highway has substantially reduced, Kaduna State Governor, Nasir El-Rufai, said on Thursday.
The Governor made the remark at an inter-agency security meeting held in Kaduna.
Early this year, Kaduna state was in the news for the wrong reasons due to rising cases of kidnapping, communal clashes, and rural banditry.
At some point, the Kaduna-Abuja highway and Birnin-Gwari road became a no-go area for motorists largely due to the incessant abduction of travellers and residents.
But El-Rufai said the kidnappers terrorising the highway have been substantially degraded and defeated by security agencies, and therefore declared the road safe for motorists.
At the security meeting, which involved officials from the Police, Army, Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) and others, El-Rufai expressed happiness that no one has been kidnapped on the highway in the last two and a half months.
He attributed the success to the enhanced level of collaboration and coordination among security agencies.
However, he urged them to sustain the inter-agency collaboration while also assuring that the State Government is committed to complementing their efforts through logistics support, mobility, hardware and other means.
The Kaduna State Governor, Nasir El-Rufai, has signed the 2020 budget of N259.25 into law, with a promise to consolidate on ongoing projects across the state.
The State deputy governor, Hadiza Balarabe had on October the 15, submitted the draft budget estimate of N257.9 billion to the House of Assembly for approval.
However, after weeks of deliberation, the lawmakers increased the budget proposal to N259.25 billion.
While signing the Appropriation Bill into law at the Sir Kashim Ibrahim Government House, Kaduna, the governor noted that N184.1 billion out of the entire budget is for capital expenditure while the sum of N75,145,220,027.38 is allocated to recurrent expenditure.
According to the governor, the largest chunk of N75.bn of the budget will be spent on the social sector, comprising education, health and social development, in line with his administration’s governance agenda of building human capital and promoting equal opportunity.
Meanwhile, the governor also swore in three new commissioners including two women for the ministries of health, agriculture and fiscal commission, as well as eight permanent secretaries.
He charged them to work harder and contribute their quota in the development of Kaduna State.
The governor also reminded them that they were appointed based on their competency and integrity and must, therefore, live up to expectations.
A file photo of Kaduna State Governor, Nasir El-Rufai. Photo: Twitter
The Kaduna State Governor, Nasir El-Rufai, says the Federal High Court, Abuja had cleared him of allegations of misappropriation of the sum of N32 billion from the sale of some Federal Government houses when he was the minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja.
He said this in reaction to reports which according to him, had misrepresented Justice Binta Nyako’s reaffirmation of an earlier judgement, by portraying him as preventing the EFCC from perform its duties.
Speaking through his counsel, Abduhakeem Mustapha (SAN) in a statement, El-Rufai noted that he had approached the court in 2009 to clear his name when he was being ‘smeared’ by the anti-graft agency.
“At no point did Nasir El-Rufai seek to stop the EFCC from performing its statutory functions. Rather, he only went to court in 2009 to defend his reputation” the statement read in part.
According to Mustapha, “the EFCC sustained a media campaign that N32bn was missing, compelling El-Rufai to approach the court for a declaratory judgment which had since been given in his favour.”
He further explained that it was the declaratory judgement that Justice Nyako reaffirmed in her ruling, reiterating that the declaratory orders in favour of the former Minister of Federal Capital Territory (FCT), subsist.
According to him, the clarification became necessary because of “the false and abjectly misleading reportage of the judgment of the Hon. Justice Binta Murtala Nyako of the Federal High Court, Abuja delivered on 29th November 2019”.
The statement recalled that as Minister of FCT, El-Rufai allocated plots in Abuja to more than 27,000 Nigerians and presided over a transparent process that sold government houses and earned the Federal Government a whopping N32bn.
“No decent man would permit slurs on such a stellar record. Therefore, Malam Nasir El-Rufai approached the court and the court agreed with him that there is no missing N32bn proceeds of sale of government houses,” Mustapha argued further.
“The court also held that the proceeds of the sales of the government houses were properly accounted for and audited”.
