Kaduna State Governor Uba Sani has attributed relative peace and stability in Southern Kaduna under his watch to his fair leadership devoid of religious or ethnic bias.

In an interview with Channels TV on Sunday, Mr Sani said, “carrying everyone along” in leadership, regardless of their differences, has helped promote relative peace in the region.

Asked if he “paid bandits or deployed kinetic force” to curtail the frequency of attacks in Southern Kaduna, Mr Sani said, “The approach is what is more important. After the election, I told everyone it was about governance. We are going to take development to every part of Kaduna.”

The governor added that after being sworn into office on May 29, 2023, he assured residents of his resolve to govern the state with fairness.

“I gathered everyone and made it clear that I am the governor for everyone; I will not rule Kaduna based on religious affiliation, political affiliation, or ethnic affiliation because as a leader I was elected to be fair to everyone irrespective of their political, religious and ethnic affiliations,” Mr Sani said.

Mr Sani said his government has also focused on addressing the infrastructural deficit in the Southern Kaduna and other parts of the state.

“I realised there was a lot of infrastructural deficit in Southern Kaduna. Today, I’m happy we have taken developments to every part of the state. The fact of the matter is we carry everybody along,” Mr Sani said.

He added, “Just a few months ago, there were crises in Plateau, Benue, but for the first time in two years, we have not had such a case in Kaduna. It is simply because we are now making sure that everyone is carried along. I’m not a governor for any religion, I’m a governor for everyone.”

Mr Sani’s statement runs parallel to that of his predecessor, Nasir El-Rufai, who openly admitted paying to appease bandits and telling them to stop killings because their fellow Fulani kinsman was in power.

Mr El-Rufai had also pushed for the political exclusion of Southern Kaduna during his government.

Boasting about his decision to run with a fellow Muslim and fill other positions with people of his faith, Mr El-Rufai said, “what we wanted to prove to people, and thank God in the last four years, we’ve vindicated ourselves and proved that a government that has a Muslim as governor, a Muslim as deputy governor, a Muslim as SSG (secretary of state government), a Muslim as chief of staff, a Muslim as finance commissioner, we’ll not cheat Christians in Kaduna State.”