Kaduna State Governor, Uba Sani, has rejected claims by his predecessor, Mallam Nasir El-Rufai, that he is one of his mentees, declaring instead that his political loyalty and mentorship stem from President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and the late human rights activist, Chief Gani Fawehinmi.
El-Rufai, in a recent interview on Channels Television, had listed Governor Sani among the people he mentored during his years in politics, describing the Kaduna leader as part of his “biggest pride in life” for elevating and guiding individuals to positions of leadership.
“Uba Sani is one of my mentees. I developed many of them. My biggest pride in life is that I’ve elevated many people. I’ve encouraged and mentored many people to greatness. Some even greater than me, and I’m very proud of it,” El-Rufai said.
But in a counter-response during an interview with TVC on Sunday, Governor Sani downplayed the remark, stressing that his political foundation was influenced by Tinubu and Fawehinmi, not El-Rufai.
“I don’t think it is necessary for me to respond to that comment because for me it is something I think I have no time to respond to,” Sani said.
He explained that he first met Tinubu in 1994 at the residence of the late pro-democracy activist, Dr. Beko Ransome-Kuti, and had since regarded the President as his leader. He also recalled the role of the late Fawehinmi in his early activism, saying the fiery lawyer housed him during the struggles for democracy in the 1990s.
“Even President Bola Ahmed Tinubu — I met him in 1994 at the house of Beko Ransom-Kuti, and I still regard him as my leader. Chief Gani Fawehinmi is a leader, a father to me because during the era of struggle, I lived in his house,” he stated.
The governor further stressed that his priority remains the delivery of good governance to the people of Kaduna State, not personal exchanges or political distractions.
“If someone is speaking about me, I will not comment. But what I can say here is that I’m focusing on Kaduna. I don’t talk about individuals, my focus is Kaduna. I don’t get distracted, my eyes are on the ball,” he emphasized.
Governor Sani, who served as El-Rufai’s political adviser between 2015 and 2019, later secured El-Rufai’s backing to contest and win the Kaduna Central senatorial seat in 2019. Despite their political history, the governor’s latest remarks appear to draw a clear line of independence from his predecessor’s claims.
