Former Kaduna State Governor Nasir El-Rufai has publicly confirmed a fallout with his successor, Governor Uba Sani, linking their disagreement to federal financial interventions.
El-Rufai’s revelation follows Governor Sani’s recent dismissal of reports about any conflict between them.
Speaking in a Monday, February 3, interview with TVC, Sani insisted that their relationship remained cordial and criticised opposition politicians forming coalitions ahead of the 2027 elections.
“Most of these politicians claiming to be part of a coalition were in government just two years ago. What did they achieve?” Sani questioned.
He praised President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s leadership, stating that “no president in the history of Nigeria has really practised democracy like President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.”
El-Rufai fires back at Uba Sani over ₦150bn federal funds allegation

However, El-Rufai swiftly countered Sani’s claims in a post on social media platform X (formerly Twitter), accusing the governor of sycophancy due to financial incentives from Tinubu’s administration.
“Every day I see this governor embarrassingly and sycophantically rambling, I used to wonder why,” El-Rufai wrote.
“However, confirming that the Federal Government ‘reimbursements, interventions, and grants’ in excess of N150bn have been given selectively to Kaduna by Tinubu now explains everything.”
El-Rufai urged Kaduna residents to judge the situation for themselves and sarcastically encouraged Sani to continue “defending Asiwaju” if he wished.
The tension between both leaders escalates amid a corruption probe by the Kaduna State House of Assembly, which recently accused El-Rufai’s administration of mismanaging ₦432bn and plunging the state into massive debt.