How Tukur And VP Sambo Stopped El-Rufai From Speaking At Yakowa's Memorial

According to SaharaReporters, ex-minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nasir El-Rufai was on Saturday prevented from speaking at a remembrance event in memory of the late Kaduna State Governor Patrick Ibrahim Yakowa. 

Mr. El-Rufai posted the news on his Facebook page with a note "The guilty are ALWAYS afraid", but provided no further comment. Another entry by El-Rufai from December 14 says,
"Just left Late Governor Yakowa's (RIP) Remembrance Lecture at Murtala Mohammed Square, Kaduna to learn that Arsenal is leading Man City....." 
Apparently, El-Rufai, an indigene of Kaduna State, was prevented from delivering his speech at the request of Vice President Namadi Sambo, and Alhaji Bamanga Tukur, the National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). 
It will be recalled that Mr. Yakowa perished in a plane crash last year, along with five other persons, General Andrew Owoye Azazi among them. Many people attended the ceremony, including Dr. Hakeem Baba-Ahmed, his brother Senator Datti Baba-Ahmed, Mataimaki Tom Maiyashi, and El-Rufai.
A source, House of Representative member, saw Saturday’s event. He confirmed to SaharaReporters that El Rufai was told by the two Masters of Ceremony he could not present his goodwill message, along with other persons who came there to do so.

"El-Rufai waited, anticipating he will be called upon to speak on Yakowa, with whom they worked together during General Abubakar Abdulsalam’s government".

"But the two MCs, Alhaji Zayan and Mairo Adamu, hatched the plan and never acknowledged El-Rufai. Zayan is the director in Kaduna State Radio and Adamu is also an aide to the Kaduna governor. This is what we discovered. El-Rufai pretended as if he did not decode the entire game.”

"Agreed, we have political differences, but it was Yakowa's family that invited us, and the function is not PDP affair but purely family event. So you can see desperation and emasculation of freedom of expression. They know El-Rufai will pay tribute to Yakowa and raise fundamental issues regarding present situation of Kaduna State and the country in general," the source disclosed.

It would be recalled that El-Rufai and VP Sambo, both of whom hail from Zaria, have recently engaged in a media war over the Zaria Water Project when the former Minister alleged during Sambo's tenure as governor, he mismanaged public funds in the name of the project. Sambo has denied that allegation.

Sahara Reporters