Mallam Nasir El-Rufai
By Our Reporter
A coalition of civil society organizations, including Concerned Progressives Nigerians In Diaspora, CPND; Congress of Northern Youths, CNY and Northern Coalition for Democracy And Justice, NCDJ have called on the security agencies to thoroughly investigate the allegations made by former governor of Kaduna State, Nasiru El-Rufai, against his successor and incumbent Governor of the State, Sen Uba Sani
Furthermore, the groups are also urging the security agencies to arrest and interrogate the former governor in order to ascertain his culpability based on his confessional statement of paying ransom to foreign herdsmen plus statements credited to him in which he strongly condemned the killing of Osama bin Laden by the United States in Afghanistan while writing in a newspaper column.
“We note with disbelieve that El-Rufai has made an open confession on his exploits, fraternization and ransom payment to foreign herdsmen whose atrocities resulted in the death of thousands of innocent Nigerians during his reign as Governor of Kaduna State. It is also on record that he condemned the United States on the killing of Osama bin Laden outside the American soil as being illegal. The security agencies are urged to establish a nexus between the resurgence of banditry across the North with El-Rufai’s past ransom payment to foreign bandits and his utterances recently.
“I is very apparent that the motivations and promptings of El-Rufai has nothing to do with safe guarding the interest of the Nigerian people but a dark agenda to cause an inter ethnic disharmony in the country”, the groups alleged in statement signed by its Convener Comrade Musa Abdullahi
and Secretary-General, Comrade Victor John
The groups further urged the relevant security agencies to investigate his recent suspicious visit to Sokoto State under the guise of meeting with politicians. His record of past ransom payment to terrorists and the proximity of the Sokoto State to foreign countries breeding terrorists is questionable.
According to the groups, El-Rufai’s recent comments on bandits attacks in Kudan, Malumfashi and other new enclaves never associated with bandits attacks in both Kaduna, Katsina and other states are clearly set to flare up tensions across ethnic and religious devide in order to cause total break down of law and order. “A reality check on the nexus between the sad development and inflammatory commentaries are things that needed to be properly scrutinized”, it stated
The groups further queried the motive behind El-Rufai’s allegations that Christians in Kaduna State are not less than 30% of the entire population of the State. “There is no other meaning to the cold blooded statement than a gas lightning tool calculated to set the both Christians and Muslims community against other for anarchy to reign in our country to enable foreign terrorists capitalise on our infighting to achieve a dark agenda. It was patently intended to give the foreign terrorists free reign advantage to overun all of us while we are busy wastefully fighting each other”
The groups also maintained that the anti-corruption agencies should re–open the investigation on the failed privatization of NITEL while El-Rufai held sway at the Bureau for Public Enterprises. “We shall do everything possible to collaborate with the Interpol and European Union related law enforcement agencies to ensure that El-Rufai must give full account on the suspected fraudulent deals in that transaction
“The case of unaccounted loans belonging to the people of Kaduna State is another case waiting for prompt investigation by the anti graft agencies in Nigeria.
“We urge the United States Government in particular and the International Community in general to specifically hold Nasiru El-Rufai over his past utterances regarding his unapologetic condemnation of the killing of Osama bin Laden, his ransom payment to foreign terrorists, ethics cleansing inflammatory commentaries and related violent utterances against accredited foreign election observers during the 2019 General Election in Nigeria.
“Our final take on the infamous and unfortunate statement contained in his recent Channels Television interview is that, he should be held accountable for his subversive utterances. He should have known better and we believe that he was well aware of the full important and implications of the contents of his perfidious allegation. He was the same El-Rufai that terrorised journalists and objective critics who expressed their constitutionally guaranteed freedom of speech.
“He cannot be over looked for his penchant to make unsubstantiated claims, disobeyed court orders, flagrant abuse of citizens rights and for dishing out lies. At over sixty five years, he is not an infant whose atrocities of blackmail, treachery and high-handedness may be excused as rantings of a cantankerous amateur”, the groups maintained
