El-Rufai Slams N2 Billion Defamation Suit Against Shehu Sani

The governor of Kaduna state, Mallam Nasir El-Rufai has filed a N2 billion suit against the senator representing Kaduna central district, Shehu Sani.

In the suit he personally filed at the Kaduna state high court on Friday, El-Rufai sought amidst other things, reliefs for injuries statements made by Senator Sani.

El-Rufai said that Sani referred to him as a “drunk, loose cannon and an embarrassment to President Muhammadu Buhari”.

He, therefore, claimed that the remarks are totally false and injurious to his person as a public servant.

Reacting to the defamation suit, the Senator said that El-Rufai is only out to intimidate him but that he will not go far.

In a statement issued by his special adviser on political matters, Suleiman Ahmed, Senator Sani said though he is yet to be served, he and his lawyers are “ready and well prepared”.

Ahmed wrote:

“The senator wishes to assure all his supporters and well-wishers that nothing and absolutely nothing can stop him from expressing his opinion on either Kaduna state or national issues,” the statement read.

“The senator is a dogged fighter who has been through many courts and even prisons in his life of struggle and can never be stopped or intimidated to silence by any means.

“Those who are allergic to heat should not be in the kitchen. The senator will never falter or waiver in speaking truth to power whether at local or national level.”

Saying that he would continue to “beam the light n the dark and grey areas” of Nigeria’s democracy, he added that those “irritated by the truth simply need to get a cotton bud.

“Those who voluntarily offer themselves for public service have also chosen to offer themselves for public scrutiny,” he said.

He recollected that in the last two years, he overcame “sponsored violence and campaign of calumny” by El-Rufai, hence would “overcome” the suit.

He said the nation’s politics is “driven by our loyalty to our principles, our faith, our conviction and our conscience and not subservient to any tin God or demi-god.”

Sani belongs to the APC faction known as “APC Akida” (true APC).

He has been engaged in a running battle with El-Rufai ever since he became governor in 2015.