On June 5, the Kaduna assembly recommended the probe of el-Rufai over the alleged diversion of public funds up to N423 billion and money laundering.
The Kaduna assembly made the recommendation after a report by an ad hoc committee set up to investigate the public finances of the state under the administration of el-Rufai.
El-Rufai was governor of Kaduna from 2015 to 2023.
The protesters, under the aegis of Kaduna Citizens Watch for Good Governance (KCWGG), marched to the state government house with placards bearing inscriptions like “We will occupy all MDAs to chase out all indicted persons in the report” and “Stop servicing loans that did not follow due process,” among others.
Victor Duniya, chairman of the group, said Kaduna state is battling a huge debt burden due to the financial mismanagement of the last eight years.
Duniya urged Uba Sani, governor of Kaduna, to submit the report of the ad hoc committee of the state assembly to relevant law enforcement agencies for action.
“The report uncovered overpayments to contractors, payments to unregistered companies, and funds disbursed for work not completed, amounting to over N36.3 billion,” he said.
“The report also revealed large sums of money withdrawn from the state treasury without proper documentation of its usage.
“Furthermore, an expenditure of over $11 billion on a non-existent BRT transportation scheme was documented with no evidence to support it.
“As concerned citizens, we condemn in the strongest terms possible the outright and merciless looting of our state, which has widened the poverty gap in the state by the immediate past administration.”
Duniya said the former governor is not remorseful about how he managed the affairs of the state for eight years.