N2bn SUIT: ‘Those allergic to heat shouldn’t be in the kitchen’, Sani tells El-Rufai

Shehu Sani, the senator representing Kaduna Central, has responded to the defamation suit filed against him by Governor Nasir El-Rufai of Kaduna State, stating that he cannot be intimidated.

In the suit he filed at the Kaduna State High Court on Friday, El-Rufai sought N2 billion as relief for alleged injuries suffered as a result of “malicious statements” made by Sani.

But in his reaction, the senator said the suit would not deter him from commenting on issues, either at the state or national level and advised the governor to develop a thicker skin as a public servant.

In a statement issued by Suleiman Ahmed, his special adviser on political matters, Sani said though he was yet to be served, his team of lawyers were “ready and well prepared”.

“The senator wishes to assure all his supporters and well-wishers that nothing and absolutely nothing can stop him from expressing his opinion on either Kaduna state or national issues,” the statement read.

“The senator is a dogged fighter who has been through many courts and even prisons in his life of struggle and can never be stopped or intimidated to silence by any means.

Read also: El-Rufai, Sani rift thickens as gov files N2bn suit against the senator for calling him a drunk

“Those who are allergic to heat should not be in the kitchen. The senator will never falter or waiver in speaking truth to power whether at local or national level.”

He added that he would continue to “beam the light in the dark and grey areas” of Nigeria’s democracy and that those “irritated by the truth simply need to get a cotton bud.

“Those who voluntarily offer themselves for public service have also chosen to offer themselves for public scrutiny,” he said.

Sani said that in the last two years, he overcame “sponsored violence and campaign of calumny” by El-Rufai, and as such, would “overcome” the suit.

He said his politics was “driven by our loyalty to our principles, our faith, our conviction and our conscience and not subservient to any tin god or demigod.

“We don’t worship broom, we don’t bow down to broom,” he said.

Sani, who belongs to a faction of the All Progressives Congress (APC) different from El-Rufai’s, has been locked in a bitter battle with the governor since 2015.

 

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