Don't Congratulate Buhari, Myself And Others, Just Pity Us - El Rufai

Kaduna State Gov­ernor-elect, Malam Nasir Ahmed El- Rufai, has called on Nigerians to stop congratu­lating him and the Presi­dent-elect, General Muham­madu Buhari, saying they should rather pity them and pray for their success.

According to him, the call became necessary because they are inheriting an econo­my that was already bankrupt, insisting that it had become so bad that the President Good­luck Jonathan- led govern­ment had to allegedly obtain loan to pay salaries.

El-Rufai made the remarks at two separate functions held yesterday, at Arewa House, Kaduna.

The events were a special reception for elected officials by Kaduna Peoples Asso­ciation (KAPA) and a special prayer for them by the APC Yoruba Political Forum.

He told KAPA that Ka­duna State had incurred debt totaling over N90billion, an amount, he noted, might shoot up to N100billion be­fore the May 29 hand-over date.

He assured his government would not share the public fund to any person or group, no matter how highly placed.

At the Yoruba APC Politi­cal Forum’s event, where the governor-elect was showered with prayers for the success of his administration, El- Rufai said what the incom­ing government needed most, are prayers.

His words: “When people call me to congratulate me or come to congratulate me and General Buhari, I always tell them, thank you, but what we need are your sympathy and prayers. This is because, myself and General Buhari are taking over bankrupt gov­ernments; it is so bad that the Jonathan administration is finding it difficult to pay sala­ries, in fact, they had to obtain loan to pay salaries.

“In the case of Kaduna State, the PDP government has incurred debt to the tune of over N90 billion, and this may get to N100 billion be­fore May 29. Therefore, what you have done (prayer) is exactly what we need to suc­ceed.”

He was, however, quick to enjoin other elected officials to be ready to work for the people, who elected them and remove greed and selfishness in the discharge of their du­ties, saying if they failed to work for the people, the peo­ple would chase them out the way they did to the PDP.