Ahead of the governorship election in Kaduna, Governor Nasir El-Rufai has directed all civil servants, political appointees and state ministries to “donate generously” to fund the campaign of his anointed candidate, Uba Sani, according to a circular obtained by Peoples Gazette.

Mr El-Rufai coerced the commissioners and permanent secretaries to bankroll the political ambition of Mr Sani, an incumbent senator representing Kaduna Central, contesting to be governor on the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC).

The civil servants and political appointees were instructed to deposit funds into the UBA account 1023933348 held by Grezzo Technical Ltd and to provide proof of payment for acknowledgement.

“As the election is fast approaching, it is imperative to raise funds for campaigns and other logistics to support our candidates,” said a circular sent to ministries and other government parastatals on February 9. The document was signed by Muhammad Bashir Saidu, the governor’s chief of staff.

It added, “I, therefore, wish to passionately appeal to all commissioners, heads of agencies, counsellors, permanent secretaries, special advisers, and other political appointees to donate generously to Kaduna State Campaign Council in line with the provisions of the Electoral Act, 2022 3. Kindly remit your donation to the account below, generate and forward payment slip for acknowledgement.”

The circular, bearing the insignia of Kaduna State Government House, ‘DONATIONS TOWARDS THE 2023 GENERAL ELECTIONS’, was sent to the head of service, offices of the auditor-general and accountant-general, among others.

Mr El-Rufai’s directive to civil servants is a clear breach of the nation’s extant laws prohibiting public service workers from engaging in partisan politics.

Since the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) won Kaduna in the presidential election, the APC seems to have lost its grasp on the state. Moreover, the PDP won two senatorial seats from the party in the February 25 polls.

At the presidential election, Atiku Abubakar of the PDP received 554,360 votes, defeating Bola Tinubu of the APC, who polled 399,293 votes and Peter Obi of the Labour Party, who had 294,494 votes.

In the Kaduna governorship race, Mr Sani will contest against Isah Ashiru of the PDP and Jonathan Asake of the Labour Party.