“Nigerians Thinks All Governors Are Just Thieves, Wasting State Resources” – Nasir El-Rufai

Kaduna State Governor, Nasir El-Rufai has said that being a governor is one of the most difficult jobs ever in the country because of the belief of many Nigerians.

Speaking on Channels TV on Monday, September 21, 2020, Governor El-Rufai said Nigerians have the wrong notion that all state governors are thieves and ineffective.

He was responding to questions on how tasking the job of governors have become, particularly as Nigeria faces economic downtime.

“Governors are the most suspected elected officials. Everyone thinks Governors are just thieves and we are wasting state resources, we are not doing anything.

“Governors are assumed to be taking security votes. When people hear security votes, they think it is a slush fund for Governors. So we have a very negative image out there.

“Meanwhile, we have one of the most difficult jobs in the world. And we are subnational; our capacity to borrow is limited. The Federal Government can print money. We cannot.

“Other than Lagos, very few state governments have room to do what they can do because apart from Lagos virtually every state in Nigeria relies on Federation Account transfers. And when they go down, you are in trouble.” he said

This is coming one week after Governor El-Rufai disclosed that his government spends N400,000 to treat each coronavirus patient in the state.