Ignore el-Rufai, he’s seeking attention, CAN tells Nigerians
Zangon Kataf indigenes accuse ex-gov of shielding Fulani militia
Chairman of Kaduna Christian Association Nigeria (CAN), Reverend Joseph Hayab, has implored Nigerians to ignore immediate past governor of the state, Mallam Nasir el-Rufai’s utterances, saying he was only playing game and seeking attention in a recent video. The cleric spoke yesterday during an interview on Arise Television monitored in Kaduna.
According to Hayab, el-Rufai is only pushing own personal agenda, as against the posture of speaking for Kaduna and Nigerian Muslims. In the viral video, the ex-governor was seen speaking on the Muslim-Muslim ticket, arguing that the idea had helped the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) retain power in Kaduna and at the national level.
El-Rufai, who was addressing a congregation of Muslim clerics in Hausa in the trended video, observed: “Despite all the ethnic gathering and use of religion, God gave Asiwaju Tinubu victory. What we successfully did in Kaduna has now been replicated all over the country.”
Reacting to the claims, Hayab remarked: “This video, in the first place, is real, because that is el-Rufai for you. If you have known el-Rufai for 20 years and you watch this video now, you will know this is el-Rufai, because he has not changed.
“Let me put it more clearly, for even thinking that the victory of Asiwaju was a Muslim thing shows that the man is actually living in inferiority complex, feeling ‘people look down on me’, ‘people feel I’m not fit to be’. So, he says things and act to show his might.”
He continued: “Everybody knew that the victory of Asiwaju, whatever others are contesting in the court, was a collective voting by Christians in the first place.
“Benue State is over 90 per cent Christian, yet Asiwaju won there. So, will you say there were no Christian votes? In Rivers State, would you say there were no Christian votes too? You can go on and on to look at other states.”
MEANWHILE, Zangon Kataf indigenes in Atyap chiefdom, Southern Kaduna have accused el-Rufai of shielding Fulani militia, who allegedly attacked and inflicted mayhem on their communities during his reign, saying he was “responsible for the last-minute illegal proscription of Atyap Community Development Association (ACDA).”
While urging incumbent Governor Uba Sani to see the entire state as his constituency and promote peace and reconciliation among citizens, ACDA’s National President, Samuel Achie, in a statement, yesterday in Kaduna, said el-Rufai should account for the crisis and mayhem that engulfed his eight years tenure.
His words: “It is on record that the ACDA, especially during the tenure of Mallam el-Rufai, has never engaged in any unlawful activity, even in the face of unnecessary provocation and attacks, nor receive any complaint on illegality from the former Kaduna State government or any quarter whatsoever, that would have warranted any caution, not to talk of proscription.”
“All these make the purported proscription not only illegal, but immoral and oppressive, which is in tune with the hostile and vindictive posture of Malam el-Rufai to the Atyap ethnic nationality throughout his tenure as governor of Kaduna State.”
