Governor Nasir El-Rufai of Kaduna State has said that President Muhammadu Buhari will retire to Kaduna State when he leaves office in 2023.
Buhari lived in Kaduna for many years before he was elected to the highest office in the land.
Speaking with reporters after meeting the president on Tuesday, El-Rufai said Buhari is a Kaduna citizen.
He said the president will spend at least two days in Kaduna in January to commission projects in Kafanchan, Kaduna and Zaria.
“Mr. President has been invited to come and commission some of our projects. He will spend two to three days in Kaduna commissioning projects in Kafanchan, Kaduna and Zaria.
“What you have tried to do in Kaduna is try to catch up. Kaduna was the capital of the northern region. So it had basic infrastructure right from the 60s. But what has happened with that, since Kaduna, gave birth to all the six states in the north that are now 18 states, plus FCT, because they were all administered from Kaduna at one point, other states have grown in the infrastructure provision and overtaken Kaduna.
“And when we ran for office and said we will make Kaduna great again, our objective was to make a Kaduna that state where every Nigerian felt comfortable and retired to, you know, military politicians, that’s why there was a time they were referring to Kaduna mafia, because all the big retired men in Nigeria, and woman went back to Kaduna to retire.
“As you know, the President is a Kaduna-based citizen. He is originally from Katsina state, but he spent most of his life in Kaduna. And he’s retiring to Kaduna. So we hope that he will be happy with what we have done and he will be proud of what we have done as an APC government, and we appreciate all the support that he has given us to enable us to do this.”
El-Rufai’s comment comes less than a week after the president said he was looking forward to returning to his farm in Daura in Katsina.