The Kaduna House of Assembly has condemned Bello El-Rufai’s aggressive attempt to contest the probe of multimillion-dollar loans taken by the administration of his father, ex-Governor Nasir El-Rufai, between 2015 and 2023.

Shortly after a 13-man committee was set up on Wednesday to investigate the former governor’s financial dealings during his eight-year tenure, Mr El-Rufai (Jr) flared up and launched an angry tirade of abuse against the Kaduna lawmakers in now-deleted posts on X, inciting supporters of his family clan to “let’s all fight.”

“On Mallam’s (Nasir El-Rufai) honour and integrity, let’s discipline a useless Assembly on ignorance,” the former governor’s son wrote in the deleted post on Wednesday. “Let’s fight, please.”

Unperturbed, the Kaduna legislators dismissed the younger El-Rufai’s threat as empty words of an “erratic” lawmaker that hold no water, according to a statement signed by Suraj Bamalli, the Kano speaker’s aide on Wednesday.

Speaker Yusuf Liman, through his aide, insisted that no threat and intimidation would dissuade state lawmakers from pursuing justice and accountability.

The Kaduna parliament, posting screenshots of Mr El-Rufai’s deleted posts, noted that it was shameful that a federal lawmaker would attempt to obstruct legislators from performing its functions.

“It is disheartening that a federal lawmaker, entrusted with representing the people, would resort to such behaviour,” he said.

Mr El-Rufai’s angry opinion held no sway over the decisions of the Kaduna parliament, Mr Bamalli stressed in the statement.

Governor Uba Sani, who succeeded Mr El-Rufai, had recently expressed frustration with how his administration was beset by a humongous debt burden running into hundreds of millions of dollars.

Mr Sani said the weight of the multimillion-dollar debt slowed Kaduna’s economic progress and that he was doing his best with the leftovers of the state’s depleted resources.

“Despite the huge debt burden of $587 million, N85 billion, and 115 contractual liabilities sadly inherited from the previous administration, we remain resolute in steering Kaduna state towards progress and sustainable development,” Mr Sani said at a town hall meeting on March 30.