Former Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) and Kaduna All Progressives Congress (APC) governorship aspirant, Malam Nasir El-Rufai, has taken on Governor Mukhtar Ramalan Yero and his ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) over their reaction to his recent declaration speech.

A statement issued today in Kaduna, North-West Nigeria, Director of Media, Nasir El-Rufai Campaign Organisation, Mohammed Musa Soba, said: “The incumbent PDP government in Kaduna State has confirmed both its incompetence and its inability to engage with issues.

“Their panicky response to Malam Nasir El-Rufai’s declaration speech was long on personal attacks and innuendo, but short on credible and specific rebuttals to the charge that they have not served the state well. In seeking the APC’s ticket to serve as governor of Kaduna State, El-Rufai has studied the state’s figures and knows the magnitude of the challenge.

“In its response, the Kaduna State Government detailed some expenses they have made. But nobody ever accused them of not spending money.

“They are charged with not having the results to show for the spending, either in infrastructure or human capital. It is a fact that the PDP government has rapidly accumulated public debts since 2007.

“Figures from the 2014 report of the Debt Management Office show that Kaduna State has the highest debt per capita in the country. Kaduna State is also ranked as the worst place to do business among the 19 northern states, according to the World Bank’s Doing Business Report, 2013.”

On the issue of poverty and unemployment, El-Rufai said the figures he quoted are based on data from the National Bureau of Statistics. These, according to him, show that unemployment in Kaduna is well above the national average, and it is second in the poverty index among the seven states in the North-West zone.

He added that the state’s budget profile does not display a development orientation, citing the decline in the state’s capital to recurrent ratio from 77%:23% to 55%:45%, reflecting a preference to spend for the pleasure and comfort of the ruling clique.

Hear El-Rufai: “Shall we also show Kaduna State’s poor performance in education as reflected in WASC and JAMB results? Contrary to the government’s claim that Kaduna came third overall in the 2014 WAEC Senior School Certificate Examination, the fact is that the state is ranked only tenth.

“Out of 100,362 students the state presented, only 36,514 secured at least five credits (including English and Mathematics), yielding a patchy success rate of only 36.38%. Self-delusion should not extend to manufacturing and believing your own fictional statistics.

“Kaduna State has been similarly dismal in achieving the MDGs, but its officials are doing well on allocations for gifts, entertainment and security.

“A peep into budget figures bears this out.The state government’s 2014 budget shows that they intend to spend N4.8 billion as security votes, split into two categories: security vote of N2.1billion, and another N2.7 billion as security vote (preventive and supportive). This same 2014 budget allocates N400m to the office of the Secretary to the State Government for ‘traditional gifts’ and N285 million for entertainment.

“The incumbent government is entitled to delude itself that its spendthrift and ineffectual style is actually the apogee of governance. But the people of Kaduna State see, feel and know the worsening levels of insecurity, debt burden, infrastructural decay, corruption and poverty in the state.

“The communities being subjected to unrelenting slaughter in southern Kaduna know there are security issues, and that the government has treated them with indifference. So do the communities in the Birnin Gwari area who have endured unresolved attacks on their lives and chattel.

“Human suffering in these parts is a reality, and denying it does not mitigate the pains of those who are affected; rather it confirms them in their conclusion that the state government simply does not care. It took the governor months to consider visiting affected communities in southern Kaduna, despite the savagery of the killings recorded there. So much for bringing the communities and peoples of the state together!”

The statement said El-Rufa'i is running on his record as a successful public servant, both as DG of the BPE and as FCT minister, in which office he is acknowledged to have managed Abuja splendidly.

He said he has the experience to run things properly, the integrity to deliver value-for-money and the competence to successfully manage difficult tasks.

“The Nasir El-Rufai Campaign Organisation sympathises with the Kaduna State Government over its discomfiture regarding the 2015 elections, but wishes to advise them to make it a campaign of issues,” the statement added.

•Photo shows El-Rufai.