Ooni of Ife Urges Kaduna Senators to Support El-Rufai

John Shiklam

The Ooni of Ife, Oba Adeyeye Enitan Ogunwusi Ojaja II, has appealed to Kaduna State senators to forget about their political differences and support Governor Nasir El-Rufai to develop the state.

The traditional ruler made the appeal yesterday in Kaduna at the third edition of the Kaduna Investment Forum.

He was speaking against the backdrop of the recent rejection of the $350 million World Bank loan which the three senators from the state rejected.

The monarch noted that Kaduna is a peculiar state with huge potential and one of the most blessed states in the federation, urging the three senators to support the governor by joining hands with him as a formidable force to make things work.

“Let us look for the betterment of people we govern irrespective of political differences. Don’t let your political differences affect the good thing that should happen in Kaduna State.

“I want to appeal to leaders to put their political differences aside in the interest of developing your state and the people who elected you.

“On the loan, I call on the senators from Kaduna State to join hands with el-Rufai and look at the future. They should not allow their political differences to allow the state loose the opportunity on ground.

“Kaduna is the convergent state for the entire northern region, and the need to convert the huge potentials into reality is imperative.

“We should all look inward and come together as alone big family in terms of our comparative advantages,” the Ooni said.

He commended the state government for attracting investments to the state through the forum.

He also stressed the need for partnership towards a better Nigeria.

He described el-Rufai as “the brightest, smartest and boldest governor in Nigeria,” adding that the governor needs all the support to positively transform the state.

Crude oil production by the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) fell in March to an 11-month low as a result of declining Angolan exports, Libyan outages and a further slide in Venezuelan output, thus increasing compliance with a supply-cutting deal by the oil producers to another record.

OPEC pumped 32.19 million barrels per day last month, a Reuters’ survey found, down 90,000 bpd from February.

According to the survey, the March total is the lowest since April 2017.

Under a pact that started in January 2017 and runs until the end of 2018, OPEC is reducing output by about 1.2 million bpd as part of a deal with Russia and other non-OPEC producers