Treasury looters must be punished, Says El-Rufai

Kaduna State Governor-elect, Malam Nasir Ahmad el-Rufai, said, on Monday, that treasury- looters must be punished in line with the constitution of the country.

El-Rufai who was reacting to the attempt by the out-going Kaduna State government to secure approval to spend N2.744 billion SURE-P funds, said the government had put pressure on the Kaduna State House of Assembly for the spending approval, barely two weeks to the end of its tenure.

El-Rufai, in a statement in Kaduna by his spokesman, Samuel Aruwan, disclosed that the in-coming All Progressives Congress (APC) government would punish anyone culpable in the SURE-P funds diversion.

The statement quoted El-Rufai as saying: “I have been made aware of desperate attempts to secure approval to spend N2.744 billion Sure-P funds. Less than two weeks to its exit, the out-going government of Kaduna State is seeking to pressure the out-going House of Assembly to permit it to spend 50% of the money on the Kawo Road project, while the 23 local government councils will share the balance.

“As Governor-elect, it is my duty to caution every official involved in these last-minute deals that the in-coming government will ensure that there are consequences for illegal conduct, breach of trust and stealing of public assets. Our government will certainly insist on accountability, and no one should be in any doubt about our resolve, be it the instigators of any impropriety or those who facilitated and executed it.

“Our transition committee is daily inundated with reports about the dire financial straits in which the out-going government has placed the state. While I await the formal submission of the committee’s report, I am compelled to publicly affirm that we cannot and will not turn a blind eye to bad behavior.”