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  • Foreigners cannot free us from bandits but ourselves – Shehu Sani

    Foreigners cannot free us from bandits but ourselves – Shehu Sani

    Activist Senator Shehu Sani has said that foreigners cannot free the North from  the siege of bandits but  the people themselves.

    Sani challenged the people to free themselves from the shackles of banditry by standing up for themselves. 

    Sani said the people must be fully involved in the battle against banditry. 

    He spoke in Abuja on Thursday at the unveiling of his two books “Perilous path to Europe: the Sahara odyssey and the Councillor.”

    Shehu said time has come for the people to organise themselves to confront the reality of insecurity, which is the central message of the drama from another of his works, “the village and vigilante”, which is aimed at sparking up the light of resistance in the hearts of the people.

    He said: “In the northeastern part of Nigeria, you have ISIS, you have Boko Haram, you have Ansar, and now we are having the Mongrel and Lakurawa terror cells in northern Nigeria. 

    “But I can assure you that if people are united and enlightened and supported by state apparatus, they can defeat those who feel that they own the land and can use the force of arms to subdue everyone. 

    “We should not think that a foreign power will come here and free us from these bandits. We are to do it ourselves.

    “We have a track record of restoring peace and order in other nations. Today, banditry and terrorism is the reality of our time. America will not solve our problems. We are to solve our problems ourselves. And we can do it.

    “We are a nation of 230 million people, and if you put the summation of all these bandits and terrorists, they are not more than 5,000. People should be encouraged, people should be mobilized to stand in the defense of their freedom, and to stand in defense of their dignity and sanctity as human beings. 

    “From Zamfara, to Katsina, to Kebbi, parts of Kaduna State, Niger State, we have seen how bandits have unleashed a regime of hell on our people.They kill our people, they kidnap for ransom, they raze down villages, they displace millions of our people. This was not our life 20 to 30 years ago. 

    “Your security, your peace, and your survival is dependent not just on what the government can do, but how you are able to organize yourself within your own locality and stand up to these bandits and terrorists.”

    Sani said the literature work was part of his contribution towards addressing the security challenges bedeviling the country, especially the north east and north west.

    Read Also: Opposition fueling renewed school attacks in the north — Shehu Sani

    T”he village and the vigilante is a dramatization of a typical situation in Northern Nigeria. So that is what it’s all about,” he stressed. 

    He said the play, the Village and vigilante will be staged across the northern part of the country to help awaken the spirit of the people and give them hope.

    According to him: “And the idea of coming up with a play that will be staged as a drama on stage, that will inspire and encourage communities under the siege of banditry and terrorism, not to lose hope, but to stand firm, organize themselves, and confront the reality and the danger that is threatening their life, their existence, and their survival as a people. 

    “The village and the vigilante is a stage play that will explain the various roles played by the stakeholders in a typical rural area in northern Nigeria. We have the traditional rulers, we have the people, we have the vigilantes, we have the security agencies, all representing different characters.

    “The village and the vigilante, we hope, will send a clear message to the people of our country that the situation which we find ourselves in today is a face in the life of our nation. It’s not going to be with us forever.”

     The book on the Perilous journey to Europe, the Sahara Odyssey, is a documentation of the ordeal faced by our young people that have dreams of greener pastures in Europe.

    He said “They end up in the hands of human traffickers who collect large sums of money, taking them through the Sahara to Libya where they end up as slaves. In Libya, they spend months and years before taking the dangerous journey across the Mediterranean. The island of Lampedusa in Italy has become a camp for many of our young men who believe that life will be better in Europe than it is here.

    “The message to each and every one of us is that if the Indians and the Chinese are moving to Europe like the way we are, they couldn’t have built their own nations. It is for us to know that there are opportunities in your country. Crossing the Sahara, risking your life in the Mediterranean Sea is not the solution. 

    “There is no dream for you to realize in Europe. Your dream can be realized here in your country. 

    He is also of the belief that the book will help in reducing or bringing an end to this dangerous, irregular migration across the Mediterranean Sea.”

  • Opposition fueling renewed school attacks in the north — Shehu Sani

    Opposition fueling renewed school attacks in the north — Shehu Sani

    Former Kaduna Central Senator, Shehu Sani, has accused opposition elements of deliberately fuelling the resurgence of school kidnappings in Northern Nigeria ahead of the 2027 elections.

    Sani said politicians who were silent when mass abductions were rampant under the previous administration have now suddenly found their voices because they see insecurity as a political weapon.

    According to him, “Some of these political actors “celebrate attacks, rejoice when soldiers fall, and amplify fear” because they believe worsening insecurity will weaken the current government and create room for a “Jonathan-style takeover.”

    The Senator made the remarks in Kaduna on Tuesday while receiving the leadership of the Open Heart Foundation and the Women Empowerment Centre, who visited him over the renewed wave of school attacks in the North.

    He warned that the politicisation of insecurity was not only immoral but a direct threat to the lives of innocent schoolchildren whose safety has become a bargaining chip in political battles.

    Sani lamented that many of the loudest critics today were the same people who “watched in silence” as students were abducted from Bethel Baptist High School, the Federal College of Forestry Mechanisation, Greenfield University, Government Science College Kagara, Tegina Islamiyya School, Jangebe and Yauri.

    He recalled that even the elite Nigerian Defence Academy was attacked under the same leaders who now pretend to be defenders of public safety. 

    “Parents sold properties to pay ransom, girls spent two years in captivity, yet they said nothing because the government then was ‘our own’,” he said.

    Sani also challenged a former Kaduna State Governor, Nasir El-Rufai who recently alleged that government paid over a billion Naira to bandits, reminding the public that the same governor once openly admitted to appeasing bandits to forestall attacks in the state.

    Shifting to the scale of the threat, Sani said the North must confront an uncomfortable truth: the terrorists and bandits tormenting Nigeria are not foreigners but sons of the soil.

    He stressed that the armed groups operating in the North-East and North-West speak Hausa, Fulfulde and Kanuri, not Mandarin, Spanish or French, and that their familiarity with terrain, communities and cultural dynamics has made them more dangerous.

    “The terrorists in the North-East are northerners. The bandits in the North-West are Fulani from within our borders. This problem is ours, and only we can solve it,” he said.

    Sani warned that the number of armed criminals roaming forests in Kaduna, Zamfara, Sokoto, Niger and Kebbi “runs into thousands,” making them a more organized threat than many Nigerians are willing to admit.

    He noted that for 15 years, the North has been a theatre of bloodshed, “They have kidnapped thousands, extorted hundreds of millions, and turned our communities into zones of grief.”

    The former lawmaker said the insecurity crisis persists partly because Northern leaders have failed to unite and confront the root causes, including poverty, almajirci, out-of-school children, and the proliferation of illegal arms.

    Sani urged Nigerians to support the armed forces and not inflame religious or ethnic tensions that further undermine the fight against banditry and terrorism.

    While acknowledging that the government of Governor Uba Sani and the administration of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu have not achieved total peace, he insisted that “measurable progress has been made” and should not be overshadowed by political propaganda.

    He called on northern leaders to rise above politics, unite their voices, and tackle the crisis with courage and sincerity, warning that “no foreign nation will rescue us, only we can rescue ourselves.”

  • N1bn payment to bandits: El-Rufai lying — Shehu Sani

    N1bn payment to bandits: El-Rufai lying — Shehu Sani

    Former Kaduna Central Senator, Shehu Sani, has dismissed as ‘false and ridiculous’ the claim by ex-governor Nasir El-Rufai that the Kaduna state government under Governor Uba Sani paid N1 billion to bandits.

    In a strongly worded statement made available to journalists on Sunday, Senator Sani said the allegation attributed to the former governor lacked credibility and amounted to a ‘politically motivated falsehood.’

    Sani, in the statement personally signed by him, accused El-Rufai of institutionalising what he described as a “culture of appeasement to terrorists” during his eight-year tenure.

    He recalled that the former governor once admitted to engaging in “conditional cash transfers” to bandits, a revelation that, according to him, led to the arrest of journalist Luka Biniyat at the time.

    The former lawmaker said Kaduna State witnessed some of its worst security tragedies under El-Rufai, citing the Kaduna–Abuja train attack, the Greenfield University abductions, and the kidnapping and killing of students of the Federal College of Forestry Mechanisation, Bethel Baptist High School, and several other institutions.

    “Under his watch, bandits and terrorists operated freely like lords and kings,” Sani said, adding that vast areas of Southern and Central Kaduna became “slaughterhouses where criminals operated unchallenged.” He noted that even the Kaduna airport had to be temporarily shut down due to rising insecurity.

    Sani also referenced El-Rufai’s withdrawal of his own son from a public school over safety concerns, saying the action contradicted the former governor’s current posture on security.

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    Challenging El-Rufai to provide proof of his allegations against the current administration, the former senator stated: “If he has images or videos showing cash being handed to bandits, he should make them public.”

    Sani further alleged that El-Rufai’s outburst was fueled by “envy” over what he described as Governor Uba Sani’s success in fostering unity between Southern Kaduna’s largely Christian communities and the Muslim-majority Northern Kaduna.

    He accused the former governor of presiding over an era marked by “religious and ethnic discrimination, division, persecution, torment and terror.”

    While acknowledging that Kaduna, like many northern states, still faces security challenges, Sani maintained that Governor Uba Sani has made notable progress in “building bridges across religious divides and dismantling the structures of banditry allegedly inherited from his predecessor.”

    “No sensible or responsible person conscious of history will give credence to the stream of lies that have become habitual in the life of a man in his mid-60s,” he added.

  • Insecurity: Shehu Sani, Christian, Muslim clerics demand urgent federal action

    Insecurity: Shehu Sani, Christian, Muslim clerics demand urgent federal action

    Former Kaduna Central Senator Shehu Sani on Friday led Christian and Muslim clerics in a forceful call on the federal government to urgently strengthen its response to the country’s deepening insecurity, saying Nigerians have suffered enough killings, kidnappings, and anguish.

    Speaking at a one-day peace summit in Abuja, Sani said he convened the gathering to amplify the voices of religious leaders who must now speak boldly as Nigeria approaches what he described as a dangerous breaking point.

    He decried the persistence of violent attacks despite growing defence budgets and Nigeria’s long-standing record of helping restore peace in other African nations.

    “Every year, defence gets the highest allocation, yet soldiers lack weapons and citizens are kidnapped like chickens,” he said.

    “The entire budget of Niger Republic is smaller than that of one Nigerian ministry, yet they secure their country. We have Army hotels and event centres — is this what defence has become?”

    Listing a series of tragedies — from Chibok to Greenfield University, Kankara to Tegina — Sani said it was shameful that a nation that once deployed thousands of troops in World War II could no longer safeguard its schoolchildren.

    “The North was once a model of peace. Today, it is a theatre of war. Another school was attacked in Niger State just yesterday. How many more graves must we dig?” he asked.

    He also criticised northern politicians who, he said, prioritise defending the President instead of protecting their constituents.

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    “If your Christian brother is not your enemy and your Imam Brother is not your enemy, then who is your enemy? Those in government who refuse to act,” he declared.

    In his contribution, the Archbishop of Peniel International Gospel Centre, Bokkos, Dr James Malgit, delivered an emotional account of the devastation in parts of Plateau State, saying entire communities had been wiped out while government responses remained weak.

    “Our women have become widows, our children orphans. We have mass graves everywhere,” he said.

    “If the situation is beyond the government, then let the international community intervene.”

    He noted that both Christians and Muslims were united in their suffering.

    “You can no longer send your children to boarding school and sleep peacefully. We have cried enough,” he said.

    Chief Imam of Kaduna Polytechnic, Malam Abubakar Sadiq, expressed similar anger, warning that the country was sitting on a moral and spiritual time bomb.

    “Over 100 children were kidnapped in Aguara, Niger State, and there was another in Kebbi days earlier. This must stop,” he said.

    Sadiq questioned why billions budgeted yearly for security fail to prevent attacks.

    “Whenever kidnappers strike, checkpoints disappear before the attack and reappear afterwards with sirens. Where does the money go?” he asked.

    He warned political leaders to remember the weight of accountability.

    “A time will come when they will leave office and answer for what they did. The Qur’an promises a curse for those who shed innocent blood,” he said.

    The cleric insisted that Nigeria’s diversity was not the cause of the crisis, saying:

    “What is happening is political or ethnic, not religious. Christians and Muslims have lived peacefully for generations.”

    Sani said the summit did not aim to produce a communiqué but to ensure the voices of religious leaders were heard clearly by those in power.

    “Nigeria is blessed with everything: land, rivers, minerals, and people. The solution is with us,” he said.

    He vowed that the remarks at the gathering would be widely broadcast.

    “After your contributions, the world and those in power will hear,” Sani said.

  • Don’t blame Tinubu for north’s woes, Shehu Sani tells critics

    Don’t blame Tinubu for north’s woes, Shehu Sani tells critics

    Former Kaduna Central Senator, Shehu Sani, has said President Bola Ahmed Tinubu should not be held responsible for the North’s underdevelopment, asserting that the region’s challenges were caused by its past leaders who failed to utilize their time in power effectively.

    Sani noted that despite the North’s prolonged grip on political leadership in Nigeria, the region continues to grapple with poverty, insecurity, and stagnation.

    Speaking during a courtesy visit by members of the Tijjaniyya Grassroots Mobilization and Empowerment Initiative of Nigeria (TIGMEIN) at his Kaduna residence, the former lawmaker described the eight-year administration of former President Muhammadu Buhari as a wasted opportunity for the North.

    He emphasized that meaningful progress in the region must come from within, through accountable and visionary leadership.

    “We had Buhari in power for eight years, but the North remained backward and impoverished. Industries like KTL, UNTL, Nortex, Arewa Textiles and others were abandoned. Our leaders lacked vision and pursued development only for their families,” he said.

    He lamented that many northerners had believed electing “one of their own” would transform the region, but instead, they were left with dashed hopes, worsening insecurity, mass poverty, joblessness, and dilapidated infrastructure.

    Sani stressed that it was both unfair and deceitful to blame Tinubu, who has only been in office for two years, for challenges rooted in decades of misgovernance.

    “The North’s problems didn’t start with Tinubu. They are the results of selfish power struggles, looted resources, and abandoned responsibilities by past leaders. These leaders had every chance to fix education, healthcare, and security — but they failed,” he said.

    He accused some Northern leaders of enriching themselves while neglecting the region, saying, “Some even stopped attending Arewa meetings. They failed to represent the region’s true interest in national development.”

    Read Also: Fix your internal crises, stop blaming Tinubu, Shehu Sani tells opposition parties

    The former lawmaker listed abandoned and uncompleted projects such as the Kaduna–Abuja road, Minna–Abuja road, Lokoja–Abuja expressway, Ajaokuta Steel Company, and the Mambilla Power Project as evidence of leadership failure.

    “Today, they want to deceive you that Tinubu is your problem. But ask yourself did these bad hospitals, failed roads, insecurity, and poverty start just 24 months ago?” he asked.

    Sani warned against returning failed leaders to power, saying, “No matter how bad things may seem now, know this your brothers from the North failed you. If they return to power, nothing will change.”

    He, however, commended TIGMEIN for its grassroots empowerment initiatives, especially its focus on equipping women and youths with vocational skills to drive self-reliance and reduce poverty.

  • Fix your internal crises, stop blaming Tinubu, Shehu Sani tells opposition parties

    Fix your internal crises, stop blaming Tinubu, Shehu Sani tells opposition parties

    Senator Shehu Sani has urged opposition parties, including the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Labour Party (LP), New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP), and Social Democratic Party (SDP), to take responsibility for resolving their internal crises rather than accusing President Bola Tinubu of instigating their troubles.

    Speaking on national television, Sani criticised the tendency of opposition leaders to look to the presidency for solutions to their internal disputes.

    “It is unfortunate that the opposition in the country is looking up to the president to solve their problems,” he said. “How logical is it when you have a problem in your house, then you start blaming your neighbour or adversary for it instead of addressing it?”

    He insisted that each party must manage its own affairs: “If there is a problem in the PDP, it is for the PDP to solve; if there is a problem in the Labour Party and SDP, it is for them to solve. I don’t know whether they are also trying to ask the president to come to their party and fix things.”

    Over the past year, the opposition has suffered major defections of governors, lawmakers, and key figures to the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), with many citing unresolved internal conflicts. In response, opposition leaders have accused the APC and President Tinubu of orchestrating the turmoil.

    Senator Sani, however, dismissed such claims as “irresponsible,” urging the parties to focus on putting their houses in order.

    “If you are in the PDP and you have people working against your party, you refuse to suspend them, you refuse to expel them, and then you decide to focus on the president as being responsible for your problem. I think you are simply being irresponsible.

    “If you are in the SDP and you have a crisis in your party and you don’t fix it, and then you are looking for the president or blaming the president, trying to find a scapegoat for your problems, I think you are just unserious.”

    According to him, it is not in the best interest of the president to fix the issues in the opposition and said it is part of a political strategy to see “your adversary” battling so many issues.

    “So, to me, as a president from a ruling party, he cannot be seen trying to fix a missile or a gun that will be directed at him,” the former Kaduna lawmaker said.

    Read Also: Shehu Sani declares interest in Kaduna central senatorial seat

    “It is part of a political strategy to ensure that your adversary has so many problems within his own area that he will not be able to contend.”

    In his Democracy Day speech, Tinubu threw a subtle jab at the opposition parties, which he described as sinking ships.

    Tinubu said he would neither bother about the crisis in the opposition parties nor help them fix the problems, adding that it was a pleasure to see opposition parties in disarray.

    “Political parties fearful of members leaving may be better served by examining their internal processes and affairs rather than fearfully conjuring up demons that do not exist,” Tinubu told a joint session of the National Assembly on June 12.

    “For me, I will not say, ‘Try your best to put your house in order.’ I will not help you to do so either.’ It is indeed a pleasure to witness you in such disarray.” 

  • Sani: northerners who had opportunity failed to turn region to paradise’

    Sani: northerners who had opportunity failed to turn region to paradise’

    • ‘North must support Tinubu’s second-term bid’

    Erstwhile Kaduna Central senator in the Eighth National Assembly, Shehu Sani, has berated northern leaders who got to power but failed to use the opportunity for the region’s socioeconomic development.

    Addressing reporters yesterday at his Kaduna home, Sani said the North was grateful for the progress it has made so far under President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.

    The former lawmaker urged the North to support the President’s second-term bid in 2027.

    He said: “For those of us from this part (North) of the country, we appreciate the progress made so far by this present government. For those of them who had the opportunity to do better and they failed, we tell them that it is better they apologise for the wrong they have done to the people of the North.

    “And for the masses of the North, they should not allow themselves to be incited against the government that is doing far better than the one that came from their side. They should not be incited against the President who had supported our own for eight years in power. I have heard a lot of comments and remarks that are linked to tribal sentiments.

    “But let’s put it in a better perspective. The Northwest has produced two Presidents since 1999. One was President Umar Musa Yar’Adua and the second was President Muhammadu Buhari. In all these elections, the Southwest supported the North and never gave any serious challenge as far as the smooth running of President Buhari was concerned.

    “So, it is only logical that we allow the South to complete their eight years in power for peace and unity and for the survival of our democracy. Even if there should be another presidential candidate from the opposition, that candidate should be from the Southwest because that is equity and justice. That is fairness.

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    “Nigeria is not just a country; it is a country that came from horrible experiences as a nation. We ought to learn from our past experiences in order not to repeat the same experiences. So, I want to call on the people to caution the elements who had the opportunity to turn the North to a paradise but left it as hell. Yet, today, such elements are crying foul for no reason other than that they have been excluded from government.

    “Their grievances are about their interests and not about the people, not about the North, not about the masses, not about insecurity and governance. However, everybody has the right to voice out his opinions but it shouldn’t be done in such a way to burn down the country.

    “Under the last administration, all the security apparatuses were of the northern extraction. They never stopped terrorism in the North. They never stopped banditry in the Northwest. They never stopped killings in Benue State, in Plateau, and most parts of the Northcentral states.

    “We need to be very factual about it. Most of the positions of authority – and even in the Nigerian Defence Academy (NDA) today – key positions are still held by northerners. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has a northerner from Bauchi State heading it; the same thing with the Ministry of Health. The Defence Minister and the Minister of State for Defence are northerners. The Minister of Transportation is a northerner. The Minister of Environment is a northerner; the Minister of Agriculture and the Minister of State for Agriculture are all northerners.

    “A ministry has been created for Livestock and it is headed by a northerner. The Minister of State for Works is a northerner; the Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) is a northerner. For us in the northern part of the country, we are very much glad, particularly the people from Kaduna State.

    “The insecurity in the North is not yet over. Bandits are still killing people. They are kidnapping people in Katsina State; they are still doing that in Zamfara State. There are major killings on the roads by bandits.

    “But if we are going to compare it to where we are coming from, I think things are better. The Chief of Defence has relatively been able to bring peace to the southern part of Kaduna, which was neglected and abandoned when (former) Governor Nasir El-Rufai was in power. We know Birnin Gwari Road: it used to be the road that was inaccessible because of banditry.

    “Banditry happened every hour, not every day, for eight years along Birnin Gwari road. Now, people can travel day and night. When last did you hear of an attack since the attack on Kuriga school? When last did you hear of an attack on any school in the state?

    “So, for those of us, when you compare the government headed by someone who came from our part of the country and the government headed by someone who is not from our part of the country, I think it is important for those of us from the North to appreciate the relative progress they have made.”

  • Shehu Sani declares interest in Kaduna central senatorial seat

    Shehu Sani declares interest in Kaduna central senatorial seat

    Former Kaduna Central Senator, Shehu Sani, has announced his intention to contest for re-election in the 2027 general elections.

    Sani made the declaration on Sunday while delivering an Eid-el-Fitr message at his residence in Kaduna.

    “Any politician contesting an election depends on the political equation that determines the position to vie for. If the conditions are right and the equations are favorable, I will offer myself to contest specifically for the Kaduna Central senatorial district,” he stated.

    He however emphasised that his ambition remains secondary to ensuring the re-election of Governor Uba Sani for a second term.

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    “For now, our priority is to see that the incumbent governor, Uba Sani, is re-elected. We will work with all our might and strength to achieve this. We know there will be challenges and opposition, but we are well prepared for all forces,” he added.

    Sani urged Muslims to pray for peace and unity during the Eid-el-Fitr celebrations.

    He also condemned the recent killing of hunters in Edo State, calling on security agencies to apprehend the perpetrators.

    “If citizens cannot move freely across the country, then we are not truly a nation. If individuals take the law into their hands for any reason, it means there is no government or authority,” he lamented.

    He called on all Nigerians who desire a better country to work towards peace and unity for the preservation of democracy, despite the challenges being experienced.

    Sani also urged the government to uphold fundamental human rights, particularly the right to life, as a crucial step towards national stability and development.

  • El-Rufai will have no political relevance in 2027 – Sani

    El-Rufai will have no political relevance in 2027 – Sani

    Shehu Sani, who represented Kaduna Central in the 8th National Assembly, has said the political relevance and fortune of former Governor Nasir El-Rufai has eclipsed with his defection to the Social Democratic Party (SDP).

    Sani, in a reaction to El-Rufai’s decision to decamp from APC to SDP, said on Monday that ” leaving APC for SDP wouldn’t make any difference for someone with no political relevance again.”

    He said: “But one thing is sure , President Bola Ahmed Tinubu And Governor Uba Sani will be voted again” in 2027.

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    The statement from Shehu Sani’s office also explained: “Less than 24 hours after the former lawmaker, who represented Kaduna Central Senatorial District, Senator Shehu openly declared support for Governor Uba’s reelection bid, the former Kaduna Governor, Mal. Nasir Elrufai out of alleged  fears of the unknown, officially dumped the All Progressives Congress (APC) for the Social Democratic Party (SDP)”.

    “Information gathered revealed that the return of Shehu Sani and other prominent politicians in the State such as Senator Suleiman Hunkuyi; Senator Danjuma Laah , Former Governor Ramalan Yero and others to APC recently unsettled the El-Rufai”, the statement added.

    “Shehu Sani had said his major political interest in 2027 is to see Governor Uba Sani reelected as Kaduna State governor”, it further stressed.

    “Unwilling to face the heat, Elrufai in a Facebook Post today formerly resigned from APC,” the statement added.

  • Reforming judiciary alone can’t transform Nigeria, says Shehu Sani

    Reforming judiciary alone can’t transform Nigeria, says Shehu Sani

    • ‘Why I lost my Senate’s seat’

    Erstwhile Kaduna Central Senator Shehu Sani has said the reform of Nigeria’s judiciary alone cannot transform the country into an overnight paradise.

    Sani, a vocal activist-turned politician, spoke with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) yesterday in Abuja.

    He said: “We can’t have a perfect judiciary when we have an imperfect country. All segments of Nigeria need reforms and the citizens must be at the centre of the change.

    “Those working in the judicial sector are part of us. They didn’t come from the Mars, Jupiter or any other part of the planet. The judges are our brothers, sisters, uncles and aunties.

    “Until we reach the point where voters will vote people, irrespective of their political parties, things will continue to go wrong. That is the only way good men can emerge as winners in our elections.

    “The present political arrangement we have is such that the mafias and godfathers are in control of the main parties. A good man can’t penetrate these parties because he doesn’t have the money.

    “A good man will pick a party’s ticket for an election from a minor party and people will say, go to the main party and get its ticket for us to support you, when they know the parties are controlled by the mafias and political godfathers.

    “The people, on their part, end up voting for candidates of the political parties controlled by the godfathers and not a good man, just because of pecuniary gains.

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    “This is how the wrong steps by our people result in electing wrong people into political offices.”

    Sani also said he lost his Senate re-election bid in 2019 because he opposed former Governor Nasir El-Rufai’s move to obtain a $340 million foreign loan.

    He said: “I was insistent on speaking truth to power, and that was why I lost my re-election bid in 2019. Former Governor Narsir El-Rufai was going for a $350 million loan and we said ‘No’.

    “Some of us told him that such a venture would impact negatively on our people, but he went ahead and did that, while he perceived us as his political enemies.

    “This political battle with El-Rufai affected several other politicians, resulting in our leaving the party en masse.

    “My own case was that I stood up to the governor and I paid the price by losing my seat.”

    Also, Sani urged Nigerians to do their part for the legislature to be vibrant and make good laws for the country.

    The erstwhile Kaduna Central senator noted that even though those he called “godfathers and mafias” control of the activities of some of the major political parties in Nigeria, voters could still swell their support for popular candidates and sweep the polls.

    He said: “Vibrant opposition in the legislature helps to put the ruling party on its toes. Again, the civil society organisations should be active to make sure that the right things are done.

    “You can’t have a vibrant National Assembly when most of the people who are there are agents of some certain powerful people who put them there as puppets.”