Reports confirm that Governor of Kaduna state Mallam Nasir el-Rufai and his deputy, Architect Barnabas Bala Bantex had traded slaps during an argument at a cabinet meeting in the state.
According to a reliable source via a
telephone conversation, the Governor and the deputy have been having a
cold war over the plans by the governor to sack top civil servants in
the state.
The governor who is embarking on a civil
service reform agenda had decided to retire these top civil servants,
who still had some years left in service but the deputy was said to have
been disturbed and deeply uncomfortable with the situation.
The deputy governor had confided in his
close associates that the list of top top civil servants marked for
this retirement exercise reflected a majority of up to 70 per cent from
the Southern Kaduna extraction.
During the cabinet meeting, the deputy
governor bared his mind and told governor El-rufai he is not in support
of the exercise, he said that he cannot control the backlash that will
arrive as a result of that action. Arc. Bantex was quoted as saying “I
cannot go home, they will stone me”
The governor had insisted that the
decision was without prejudice and in the best interest of the state but
the deputy insists that on equality as his constituency already feels
marginalized.
At this point the conversation became
heated between the Governor and his Deputy and words were traded between
both leading to Governor Elrufai landing a slap on the face of his
deputy.
The deputy governor was said to have
immediately taken his seat and told the governor that since having
arguments and counter views has earned him a slap, he thinks the right
thing to do was to let everyone know and resign.
Governor El-rufai was said to have retorted that Bantex cannot resign and continued the meeting.
The Deputy governor who participated as
the meeting continued however surprised most cabinet members present as
the meeting ended.
The deputy governor was said to have
caught Governor Elrufai unawares and landed him a slap and pinned him
before landing another slap on the governor while the cabinet members
restrained him from beating the governor up.
The security details who were not present at the meeting rushed in and restored calm.
The cabinet members also intervened and
attempted to broker peace between both. According to one of them,
Elrufai apologized and pleaded that the matter should not to be
discussed outside the cabinet.
The SA Media and Publicity to Governor el-Rufai, Samuel Aruwan was unreachable
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