Shehu Sani on N2bn suit: El-Rufai can’t intimidate me

Shehu Sani, senator representing Kaduna central district, says Nasir el-Rufai, governor of Kaduna state, cannot intimidate him.

He said this in response to the defamation suit filed against him by the governor.

In the suit he filed at the Kaduna state high court on Friday, el-Rufai sought N2 billion as relief for alleged injuries suffered as a result of “malicious statements” made by Sani.

But in his reaction, the senator said that would not stop him from commenting on issues, either at the state or national level.

In a statement issued by Suleiman Ahmed, his special adviser on political matters, Sani said though he is yet to be served, his team of lawyers are “ready and well prepared”.

“The senator wishes to assure all his supporters and well-wishers that nothing and absolutely nothing can stop him from expressing his opinion on either Kaduna state or national issues,” the statement read.

“The senator is a dogged fighter who has been through many courts and even prisons in his life of struggle and can never be stopped or intimidated to silence by any means.

“Those who are allergic to heat should not be in the kitchen. The senator will never falter or waiver in speaking truth to power whether at local or national level.”

He added that he woulf continue to “beam the light n the dark and grey areas” of Nigeria’s democracy and that those “irritated by the truth simply need to get a cotton bud.

“Those who voluntarily offer themselves for public service have also chosen to offer themselves for public scrutiny,” he said.

Sani said that in the last two years, he overcame “sponsored violence and campaign of calumny” by el-Rufai, and as such, would “overcome” the suit.

He said the nation’s politics is “driven by our loyalty to our principles, our faith, our conviction and our conscience and not subservient to any tin God or demi-god.

“We don’t worship broom, we don’t bow down to broom,” he said.

Sani, who belongs to a faction of the All Progressives Congress (APC) different from the el-Rufai’s, has been having a running battle with the governor since 2015.