Yero govt officials must refund stolen funds – El-Rufai

Kaduna State Governor-elect, Malam Nasir el-Rufai, said on Tuesday that he will probe the outgoing administration of Governor Mukhtar Yero for depleting the resources of the state.
El-Rufai, a former Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, stated this shortly after receiving the report of the All Progressives Congress Transition Committee in Kaduna.
The governor-elect said he wouldn’t draw a line between the past or shield anybody from probe, including the governor, after taking over government in May 29.
El-Rufai added that he was determined to ensure that any money stolen from the state’s treasury would be accounted for by the outgoing government of Yero.
According to him, the state has gone through trauma of maladministration under the Peoples Democratic Party.
The governor-elect said, “This report is the beginning we are trying to understand the government and see what has been left behind and we will see some more.

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“I have said this and I will say it again; no one will take away the resources of this state without consequences.
“We are not going to let it happen. There would be full accountability for every penny that accrue to this state and any one that has taken the money for this state will he asked politely to return it and if he doesn’t, we will take actions that are not necessarily polite.
“I am determined to do this. This state has gone through trauma. Development has suffered. Resources have not been applied efficiently and effectively and we are not going to draw a line and say the past is the past. The past will be the future.”
El-Rufai added that the era of incumbency factor was gone in the nation’s body polity, noting that the last general elections had proven that it was possible to remove an incumbent government for lack of performance.
He urged the people of the state to judge him by his performance while in office as from May 29, saying the people of the state were at liberty to vote him out in 2019 if he fails to performance.
The governor-elect added, “Here in Kaduna, my partner and I (Deputy Governor-elect) will work as hard as we can to deliver true development and progress in the lives of our people and if we fail in four years, we will be voted out and others will be voted in. So, it is a good thing and that is how it should be.”
Earlier in his remarks, Chairman, APC Kaduna Transition Committee, Malam Balarabe Abbas-Lawal, while submitting the report to the governor-elect, lamented the lack of cooporation from the outgoing PDP administration in the state.
“Our report is unfortunately an interim report as critical information required by the various sub-committees have not been provided despite several informal and formal attempts to persuade the outgoing government to accede to our requests,” he said.