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Tag: Shehu Sani

  • How Fmr. IG Coomassie ordered my arrest, imprisonment – Shehu Sani

    The senator representing Kaduna Central, Shehu Sani, on Friday recalled how former Inspector-General of Police (IGP), Ibrahim Coomasie, ordered his arrest and signed his detention order in Kirikiri Prison, Lagos, in 1995.

    However, he said they later became friends after his release from detention.

    Mr. Sani, a pro-democracy activist before going into politics, said this in a tribute he wrote on his Facebook page in memory of Mr Coomassie who died on Thursday.

    Mr Coomassie, who died after a protracted ailment, rose through the ranks to become the IGP in 1993 and retired from the service in 1999. He was buried on Friday.

    “Dr Ibrahim Coomasie ordered for my arrest and signed my detention order in Kiri Kiri Prison, Lagos in 1995. When I was released from Prison, he reached out to me and we became ‘friends’ and I related with him as a father. I visited him at home a couple of times and visited him while on his sick bed few weeks ago’, Mr. Sani wrote.

    Mr. Sani described late Mr Coomassie as a patriot, an elder-statesman, a through-bred professional and a man ever passionate about his country and people.

    “We lost a patriot, an Elder-statesman, a through bred professional and a man ever passionate about his country and his people. May his soul Rest in Aljanna, he wrote.

    Mr. Sani was detained in July 1993 under the military regime of Ibrahim Babagida for advocating re-validation of the result of the June 12, 1993 presidential election won by late Moshood Abiola. He was also implicated in the 1995 phantom coup under the Sani Abacha dictatorship and detained in Kirikiri Prisons.

  • 2019: Shehu Sani, other Kaduna senators clear air on alleged defection from APC

    Sen. Shehu Sani (APC-Kaduna) says he is yet to defect from the All Progressives Congress (APC) to any other party.

    Sani made this known in a statement made available to newsmen in Abuja on Friday.

    He said that consultations were still ongoing with regard to the future of the party.

    “I am yet to defect or decamp or migrate from the APC to any other party.

    “However, discussions and consultations are ongoing as regard to our future in the Party.

    “Decision will be taken in a matter of week or two whether to remain in the party or migrate.

    “When the time comes, I will make a formal announcement on the floor of the Senate, my Facebook and Twitter handle,” he said.

    There were reports earlier on Friday, claiming that Sani and Sen. Suleiman Hunkuyi (APC-Kaduna) had left the APC.

    The report was credited to the Hunkuyi-led faction of the APC.

    The group, which is said to be known as APC Akida, purportedly made the statement in Kaduna.

    Meanwhile, Sani had said via his Facebook handle that “We the persecuted are on Exodus, riding on horses, chariots and caravans, departing Pharaoh Thutmose’s Egypt.

    “We are now at the coast of the Red Sea, about to leave the land of cruelty and injustice.”

    The lawmaker has been having running battle with his state Governor, Nasir El-rufai, who also belongs to the APC.

    There are indications that Sani is nursing the idea of picking a governorship ticket for the 2019 election, a decision which he claimed had pitched him against the governor among other things.

  • 2019: Shehu Sani’s group dumps APC

    A faction of the All Progressive Congress known as APC Akida and members of APC Restoration group in Kaduna state on Friday dumped the ruling party.

    According to the two groups, they decided to dump APC because the party had failed to meet the expectations of millions of Nigerians who voted for the party.

    The two groups disclosed this at a joint news briefing in Kaduna under the leadership of Mataimaki Maiyashi for Akida group and Jaafaru Ibrahim for Restoration.

    The groups did not mention the new party they will be joining but said serious consultation was ongoing with political parties that share their values.

    According to Maiyashi, they were satisfied with the position to dump APC because the party is incapable of accommodating criticism.

    Maiyashi explained further that the joint press conference was the culmination of extensive reviews and consultations over the state of the APC in Kaduna State as well as in the nation.

    Shehu Sani, the senator representing Kaduna Central is a member of the Akida faction and has always threatened to dump the party. But he was not at the press conference.

    “Members of our two groups have decided to leave the APC because it is incapable of accommodating and responding to well-meaning dissent, criticism and demands for inclusiveness and internal democracy,” Maiyashi said.

    “It has not lived up to the expectations of the millions of people who laboured to put in power,as well as Nigerian who expected that it will usher in genuine change.

    “We are hereby advising all our teeming members to formalize their withdrawal from the APC. We are engaged in serious discussions with parties which share our value and principles toward political collaboration that best suits our interests.

    “In due course, we will make public the outcome of these discussions. We want to commend the resilience and commitment of our members in the face of institutionalized exclusion, marginalization and abuse. We urge them all to keep faith,” he said.

    The chief of staff to senate president Bukola Saraki, Hakeem Baba-Ahmed, who is also a member of the Akida group, dumped APC weeks ago.

  • 2019: Too late for Oshiomhole to save APC, party already sinking – Shehu Sani

    …hints of dumping party soon

    Senator Shehu Sani (APC, Kaduna) has revealed plans by aggrieved members of the ruling All Progressives Congress in Kaduna State to leave the party.

    He told reporters in Abuja, on Tuesday, that the new APC National Chairman, Adams Oshiomhole assumed office at a time it had become too late to reconcile them with the party.

    Sani said, “I wish Adams has come earlier because like I said these grenades that were laid by the former chairman will explode in a matter of days.”

    According to him, party leaders including President Muhammadu Buhari have proved incapable of handling the crisis.

    The Senator explained that the ward, local government and state congresses in Kaduna were flawed and that complaints he and other party members lodged were ignored by the Chief John Odigie-Oyegun-led National Working Committee.

    He noted that to further compound am already bad situation, the immediate past party leadership went ahead to inaugurate the executive committee’s which emerged from the flawed congresses.

    Sani said, “It is also very clear to us that even President Muhammadu Buhari is incapable of tackling the menace of the governor of Kaduna state.

    “How can a governor, openly called for violence against Senators and not a statement came from the seat of power cautioning such a governor?

    “How can a governor move bulldozers and demolish a house of a fellow party member, the one who helped him to be where he is and there is not even a statement from the presidency?

    “The governor uses the machinery of the state to emasculate political opponents. He even framed me for murder and there was no statement that came from the presidency to caution such a governor.

    “Virtually Kaduna state under governor El-Rufai does not create conducive environment for any of us to remain in that party (APC).”

    The Senator also said, “There were three attempts to resolve the Kaduna APC crisis; there was Inuwa Abdulkadir committee which was never respected by the governor, there was the governor Masari- led committee which was also not respected and there as you can see, Tinubu’s attempt to reconcile members of the party was simply naturalized and abandoned. So we are not slaves to continue to be in that party.

     

  • Sen. Sani lists 15 threats to Nigeria’s democracy under Buhari’s watch

    Sen. Sani lists 15 threats to Nigeria’s democracy under Buhari’s watch

    All Progressives Congress (APC) Senator representing Kaduna Central at the National Assembly, Senator Shehu Sani, has released a list of fifteen threats to Nigeria’s fledgling democracy under the watch of President Muhammadu Buhari.

    Senator Sani released the list on Friday, and it captured the “mass killings in the North Central and North West” region of the country as threat to democracy.

    The APC Senator listed “disobedience to court orders and resistance to rule of law on the alter of political exigencies” as threat to democracy in the country also.

    See full list:

    Fifteen threats to democracy in Nigeria

    1. Mass killings in the North Central and North West of Nigeria.

    2. Increasing spate of Insurgents guerrilla attacks in the North East;the abductions and the plight of the abducted.

    3. Violations of freedom of speech and increasing intolerance to contrary political views,peaceful dissent and peaceful protest.

    4. Onslaught against the parliament and parliamentarians perceived as opposition.

    5. Religious bigotry and rise of ethnic nationalism.

    6. Disobedience to Court orders and resistance to rule of law on the alter of political exigencies.

    7. Unaddressed perception of nepotism and favoritism.

    8. Timidity of the major opposition party and disorderliness of the ruling party.

    9. Public perception of credibility and moral problems of members of the parliament over corruption issues and patented as self serving.

    9b. Public perception of a Tyrannical and autocratic President contemptuous of democratic values,surrounded by a vicious cabal.

    10. Arbitrariness and increasing lawlessness of security agencies.

    11. Docile and pliant civil society.

    12. A deodorant and Insecticide style anti corruption crusade.

    13. Compromised and subservient states assemblies and emperor Governors operating above the laws.

    14. A dubious national objection to Hate speech that shields people in Position of power and targets ordinary Nigerians.

    15. The prominence of the rabid political and economic interest and ambitions of the political elites over the peace and unity of the country.

     

  • Codeine saga: Senator Sani kicks against Emzor closure

    Codeine saga: Senator Sani kicks against Emzor closure

    Kaduna Central District Senator Shehu Sani has kicked against the closure of Emzor pharmaceutical company by the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC).

    TheNewsGuru reports Emzor and two other pharmaceutical companies were shutdown by NAFDAC after being implicated in a BBC investigation on illegal manufacturing and distribution of codeine-containing syrup.

    In a statement by NAFDAC, Peace Standard Pharmaceutical Limited, Bioraj Pharmaceutical Limited and Emzor were shut for apparent resistance to provide needed documents during the organisation’s inspection in Ilorin and Lagos on May 2.

    “Earlier on April 30, 2018, a day before the BBC documentary was aired, having seen the preview, Mojisola Adeyeye, the director general, had a meeting with technical directors of NAFDAC. She outlined the steps to be taken to strengthen the weakness in the control of the manufacturing and distribution of codeine-containing medicines as demonstrated in the documentary.

    “One of the recommendations of the meeting was that NAFDAC should immediately deploy officers from its inspection and enforcement directorate (I&E) to inspect the alleged companies.

    “A team of nine NAFDAC officers and ten mobile police officers were sent to Ilorin on May 2, 2018 to carry out investigational inspection at the companies of the two different pharmaceutical companies that are licensed to manufacture codeine-containing syrup, and which were implicated in the BBC documentary.

    “The same investigational inspection by a different NAFDAC team took place on the same day and time as the Ilorin companies at the manufacturing facility of Emzor Pharmaceuticals Industry Limited, Ajao Estate, Lagos.

    “The focus of the assignment was to access and monitor from records the utilization, sales and effective distribution of the codeine containing cough syrups to the end users,” that statement read.

    “The shutdown of Emzor and the two other pharmaceutical companies by NAFDAC is an overkill,” Sani said, stressing that “Issues of violations if actually true, can be penalized with proportionate sanctions”.

    According to Sani, “Such reputable companies doing legitimate business and employing thousands of Nigerians must not be ruined”.

    Meanwhile, Emzor, on Tuesday insisted that only one production site of its firm was shut, contrary to claims that the entire company was shut.

    In a series of tweets on its Twitter handle, Emzor said NAFDAC only sealed its liquid line. It said the rest of its manufacturing operation was going on normally.

    The firm said NAFDAC sealed the line five days after carrying out an inspection on the site. It added that the regulator raised no issues at the time of the inspection, only for it to return later to close the line without explanation.

    The tweet was in reaction to a press statement from NAFDAC that it has sealed off all the production lines of three pharmaceutical companies which were implicated in a BBC documentary on illegal codeine sale in Nigeria.

    “Due to insufficient evidence gathered and apparent resistance to provide needed documents during our inspection on May 2, 2018, at the respective companies in Ilorin and Lagos, respectively, it has become necessary to shut down all the product lines of the three companies – Peace Standard Pharmaceutical Limited, plots 3 & 8, Adewole Industrial Estate, Lubcon Avenue, Ilorin, Kwara State; Bioraj Pharmaceutical Limited, 405 Kaima Road, Ilorin, Kwara State and Emzor Pharmaceuticals Ind. Ltd., Ajao Estate, Lagos. This is to allow for a full and comprehensive investigation. The three companies, therefore, remain closed,” the regulator said.

    Emzor, however, denied the claim. The company’s statement reads:

    “NAFDAC have only temporarily sealed one of Emzor’s production sites, the liquid line. The rest of Emzor is still operating as normal. On Wednesday the 2nd of May NAFDAC inspected one of our production sites where Emzolyn with Codeine was made. There were given full access and our complete cooperation, with no issues raised at the time.

    “On Monday the 7th of May, NAFDAC sealed the inspected site without giving us a reason nor an explanation of what the violation of the Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP) Code was and it will be wrong for us to speculate as to the reason why.

    “Emzor continues to make good quality affordable medicines for the Nigerian public and the products are still available to buy. We believe in Emzor Wellocracy, unlimited wellness available to all and affordable by all.”

     

  • ‘If you need loan, don’t insult a bank manager’ Shehu Sani lambasts El-Rufai

    ‘If you need loan, don’t insult a bank manager’ Shehu Sani lambasts El-Rufai

    Shehu Sani, chairman, senate committee on local and foreign debt, has advised Nasir el-Rufai, governor of Kaduna, to use the “meagre” resources available to run the state.

    In an interview with NAN on Monday, the senator wondered why governors could not use distributions from the excess crude account and Paris Club Refund to execute projects.

    He said the senate rejected the Kaduna government’s request for a $350 million loan due to the state’s high debt profile.

    The senate rejected the request on March 29, following a strong opposition from the three lawmakers representing the state at the upper legislative chamber.

    Last week, el-Rufai described the senators as enemies of the state, saying their action showed that they are “useless”.

    “The senators from the state who worked against the World Bank loan are useless; they came out and said this loan should not be given. What is their reason for rejecting the loan? It is because they are haters of the masses in Kaduna state,” he had said.

    He added that senators from the state were not privy to the loan, and that contributed to its unanimous rejection.

    “How can you be governor of a state and all your three senators, including the one from PDP, are opposed to it?” he asked.

    “I have never heard of it. I have treated cases of loan here as the chairman of committee on local and foreign debt. There were cases where one senator is opposed to it but two are for it or the other way round. As a governor of a state, if you are desirous of a loan, the first people you should consult are the legislators; he did not do that.

    “So, I do not think the attitude of consistent insult on us and the institution of the national assembly will be of value. If you need loan, you do not go insulting a bank manager; you have to convince him that you are worth it.”

    Sani said approving the loan for a state with a high debt profile will put a lot of burden on future generations.

    “We rejected the loan to save the children of Kaduna state from the slavery of debt that will overtake them in the future,” he said.

    “Most political elite leave behind for their children, hotels, houses, mansions and estates, but they leave mountains of debts for the children of the poor. I do not see the reason why state governors cannot use the Paris Refund, the bailout funds and Excess Crude Account distributions to execute their projects and programmes. Why must they go for loans?

    “If Gombe State is where it is today and other states like Sokoto are still working and they have never approached us for loan, why Kaduna state. If the loan is even reasonable, you will look at it from that point of view. The tenure of a government is at most eight years and you leave behind 20, 30, 40 years of loan for people to pay.”

    He said that as chairman of the committee on loans, he owed it a duty to the state and all other states to ensure that states that were in debt did not acquire more debts.

    “It is my duty as the chairman of the committee to do what I need to do to save a state that is already in so much debt,” he said.

    “My state is indebted to the tune of about 225 million dollars, the second most indebted state in the country and you tell me to approve another loan of 350 million dollar.

    “We had to turn down the request. If it is me, people will say I have a running battle with the governor but the other two senators are equally opposed to it.”

  • Killer herdsmen are nothing but terrorists – Senator Sani

    Killer herdsmen are nothing but terrorists – Senator Sani

    Senator Shehu Sani has said herdsmen who are responsible for the killings and slaughtering in Benue and Taraba are nothing but terrorists “except if we want to call a spade a pestle or a spoon”.

    The Senator representing Kaduna Central in the National Assembly said this on Monday in reaction to Saturday afternoon’s raid by suspected bandits at Gwaska in Birnin-Gwari Local Government Area of Kaduna State.

    “Herdsmen who commit massacre in Benue and Taraba and ‘Bandits’ who commit massacre in Zamfara and Birnin Gwari in Kaduna state, are nothing but terrorists; except if we want to call a spade a pestle or a spoon,” he stated.

    The Kaduna Senator vowed to support President Muhammadu Buhari on the floor of the Senate to fund and equip the DSS, Police and Civil Defence, as he did to the military to “bring an end to all the excuses now ‘produced daily in an industrial-scale’”.

    “The indifference of the ruling political establishment to end the ceaseless violence and killings in the country is based on the fact that the victims are the poor and the peasants in rural areas.

    “Again and again, I will continue to raise the tragic situation of Birnin Gwari on the floor of the senate until it touches the conscience of those responsible for its security to prioritize human lives over 2019 politics.

    “Mass burial has become ‘a daily ritual’ in Birnin Gwari. We must admit the fact that the police and the army have nothing much to work with to enable them confront the danger and the superior fire power of the armed bandits,” he said.

    TheNewsGuru reports bandits attacked Gwaska village in Birnin Gwari on Saturday afternoon leaving about 45 persons dead.

    Residents said the killings occurred around 2:30 p.m. when the bandits stormed the village in large numbers on motorcycles. They also burnt many houses in the community.

    Confirming the incident, Kaduna State Police commissioner, Austin Iwar, said the police have deployed over 150 personnel to the area as directed by the Inspector General of Police, Ibrahim Idris, on Sunday.

    “Yes 45 people were confirmed dead and as we speak the state command have already deployed 150 policemen to the area to provide security,” he said.

    “We will also deploy another 200 police officers by next week to help protect lives and property in Birnin Gwari. We are doing everything possible to secure the area,” he said.

    On the need for the command to work with local vigilante in the area, Mr Austin said the police is already doing so and will continue to work with them in the area of community policing.

    A community leader in Birnin Gwari, who identified himself as Hussaini, said over 40 bodies were brought to emir’s place in Birnin Gwari on Sunday afternoon.

    “Some bodies that were seemed to have been burnt were already buried by their love ones at Doka and Mando villages, few kilometres from Birnin Gwari town,” he said.

    Following the latest attack, Governor Nasir El-Rufai on Sunday evening had announced that the federal government agreed to deploy a permanent army battalion in the troubled area.

    Personal Assistant to President Buhari on New Media, Bashir Ahmad today said the FG has approved a new military battalion, a new Police Area Command and two additional Div Police HQs for the area.

    He said it was in efforts by the Buhari government “To bring an end to the bloodletting, and ensure that the criminals behind it are brought to justice,” while adding “The killings in Birnin Gwari are regrettable”.

    El-Rufai confirmed the development, stressing the engagements between the State and Federal Governments is yielding results.

    “Military and security deployments have continued in the area since then, but the bandits hiding in the forests continue to exert a deadly toll, killing civilians, soldiers and other security forces.

    “The Federal Government has now approved a permanent army battalion in the area, instead of the previous ad-hoc deployments. Police strength in the Birnin-Gwari axis is also being enhanced,” the Kaduna state governor confirmed.

     

  • God will curse Shehu Sani, two other Kaduna senators for rejecting World bank loan – El-Rufai

    God will curse Shehu Sani, two other Kaduna senators for rejecting World bank loan – El-Rufai

    …Says electorates must reject them in 2019

    Governor Nasir el-Rufai of Kaduna State on Friday rained curses on the three senators representing the state for working against a World Bank loan request by the state government.

    The governor made the comment on Friday, five weeks after the senators — Shehu Sani (Kaduna Central), Sulieman Hukunyi (Kaduna North), and Danjuma Leah (Kaduna South) — blocked a $350m loan request by the Kaduna government.

    The state had sought to get the facility from the World Bank but the federal lawmakers said the loan would erode the economic viability of the state.

    But el-Rufai, while speaking at the inauguration of the All Progressives Congress’ campaign for the local government election in the state at the Kaduna Township Stadium, described the lawmakers as the enemies of democracy.

    The governor, who spoke in Hausa, told the thousands of people at the venue that the senators conspired to stop his government from obtaining the loan to build infrastructure and develop the state.

    He said, “The senators from the state who worked against the World Bank loan are useless; they came out and said this loan should not be given. What is their reason for rejecting the loan? It is because they are haters of the masses in Kaduna State.

    “If a road project is initiated in your town, they don’t want it to be completed. If we start renovating a hospital, they don’t want it to be completed. If five schools are renovated and 10 are remaining, they will not want the remaining 10 to be renovated.

    “Today, there are no haters of the masses of Kaduna State like Shehu Sani, Suleiman Hunkuyi and Danjuma Laah, God will curse them. God will reward their wickedness against the masses, may God never bless them. All members of the House of Representatives from this state, God bless them, may God return them to their seats in 2019.

    “Members of our state (House of) Assembly who gave us their cooperation before the World Bank approved the loan to us, may God bless them and may God return them to their seats in 2019. But those ones that are cursed, if they come to Kaduna, shave their heads and beard. They have shown that they are bastards, they have no origin, therefore, it is important to tell them that they did not originate from this state.

    “If the time for election comes, answer them with votes, show them that you don’t like them… Let them go back to where they come from. Let them go to the people they are working for to vote for them.

    “I want my people to comprehend the simple logic that the three senators representing my state at the Senate are starkly ignorant of the real indices of development and progress in a democratic setting.”

    El-Rufai also said his administration had invested considerably in electronic voting because he believed that votes must count during elections.

  • Breaking: Senator Dino Melaye is back home

    Kaduna Central District Senator Shehu Sani has said Senator Dino Melaye, who was arrested on Monday morning at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport is back home.

    “Dino is back home,” Sani tweeted.

    Details shortly…