The APC guber candidate El- Rufai who had a landslide victory in 17 local government areas of Kaduna state with 1,117,635 votes as against the incumbent governor Muktar Ramalan Yero who had scored 485,833 votes in 6 LGA’s to his credit in the just concluded April 11^th election in a brief interview with journalists amidst jubilation at his campaign office opened up on his administration’s plan for the people of Kaduna state. The victory of APC in the overall election he said is not only a victory for Nigerians and Nigeria but for democracy. An opposition defeating an incumbent both at state and national level, the governor elect sees it as a pointer to the level of maturity of our democracy. This he said is manifest in the card reader system introduced by the Independent National Electoral Commission which has provided for a more transparent election. The APC under his administration would try to deliver on his promises he concluded.

Excerpts…

Sir, what would you say about your landslide victory?

The victory of the APC in this election is a victory for Nigeria. Is a victory for Nigerians and our democracy. The fact that an opposition party can defeat an incumbent not only here in Kaduna state but at the federal level is an indication that our democracy has matured. All thanks to INEC and their innovation of the card reader. Without the card reader this election could not have been free, fair and credible. We should be grateful to God and Nigerian citizens for exercising their civic rights and defending their votes. Now our democracy is connected between those governing and the ordinary people and Nigeria would be better for it so it’s a victory for Nigeria.

Your Excellency, it is said that to whom much is given, much is expected what should the people of Kaduna expect from you?

What we promised the people of Kaduna state is that we would give them different governance. We would ensure that the resources of Kaduna state are not pocketed by a few people but would be used for the development of Kaduna state.

We would treat every citizen of Kaduna state as an equal and would not discriminate on the basis of gender, ethnicity or religion. We would govern with fairness and justice. We would be guided by the highest moral principles in discharging our responsibilities to the 8million people that live in Kaduna state. We would not give any preference to indigenes or settlers, anybody that lives in Kaduna state would be given the same rights as any other citizen. We want to make Kaduna state an example of how Nigerians can live together as equal in peace and harmony. This is our commitments. The other policies and programmes of our administration have been published in our manifestoes and I advice everyone to read it.