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June 5, 2023
A former national executive of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), Evangelist Kwamkur Samuel, has said that the immediate past Governor of Kaduna State, Mallam Nasir El-Rufai, confirmed that he supported the terrorism and violence in the state.
Samuel, the former CAN Director for Legal and Public Affairs, said that El-Rufai's speech in a viral video where he addressed a group of Islamic scholars confirmed that the former governor supported the killings of Christians in Kaduna and Nigeria in general.
The Christian cleric said this while reacting to the viral video where El-Rufai was caught telling a group of Islamic scholars that Muslim/Muslim governorship ticket would be sustained in Kaduna State beyond 20 years by God's grace.
El-Rufai in the viral video had told the Islamic scholars that he nominated a fellow Muslim as his deputy in 2019 because he knew they would win the election without the votes of Christians in the state.
Reacting to the former governor's address, Evangelist Samuel in a press statement described the address as "vituperations against the Christian community and non-Muslims in Nigeria."
The Christian cleric said that "Ordinarily, I have heard Islamic clerics preach that Tinubu’s Muslim/Muslim ticket is in furtherance of an Islamisation agenda, and despite that I am one of those who contributed in discouraging Christians and Nigerians from accepting such as true because I believed in the antecedents and character of His Excellency, Ahmed Bola Tinubu, but hearing from a political leader like El-Rufai, a close associate of Tinubu and Shettima, an active participant in the campaign who was contemplated as one of the qualified persons to be appointed as the Chief of Staff to Mr President or Secretary to the Government of the Federation, confirmed that there is a hidden agenda to be mindful of.
"In the said address, Mallam Nasir El-Rufai spoke like one of the religious bigots that have been working underground to set the nation on fire. Amongst his ill-motivated statements which I can only paraphrase for now, El-Rufai confirmed that he is a leader of the Islamic terrorist group operating in Sambisa forest albeit disguising as a governor in a complex nation like Nigeria.
"Firstly, El-Rufai in his speech, wondered why he should give ‘them’ a deputy governor when most of ‘them’ cannot vote for his party."
Samuel further noted that "That he calculated and discovered ‘we’ can win election without ‘them’, hence why giving ‘them’ a deputy? From El-Rufai’s classification of the citizens of his state as ‘them’ versus ‘us’, one needs no angel to tell you that he cannot be exonerated from the wanton killings, demolition of houses and places of worship of Christians in Kaduna.
"Secondly, Mallam El-Rufai went further to state that Islamic dominance of government in Nigeria will bring peace, Justice and fair play. He assured the gathering that he will sustain an Islamic dominated government for 20 years and unending.
"This outburst reiterates his extreme fanaticism and displays his ignorance of what constitutes justice, equity and fair play.
"Discrimination, ethnic profiling and all genocidal attempts to consume a race or religion constitute injustice and are recipes for anarchy and crisis.
"Thirdly, he told his audience that in the course of the electioneering campaigns, when “they” tried to ask questions on why the Muslim/Muslim ticket, he deceives ‘them’ that it is not for religious dominance but in reality, the tickets both nationally and at state level were for Islamic dominance.
"He boasted that the Islamic dominance in Kaduna has been successfully replicated in Nigeria and it shall continue. He said further that the victory of Asiwaju has silenced the Christian Association of Nigeria.
"The question is, is it only Muslims that voted for Asiwaju? Who voted for Atiku and Peter Obi? I guess it was only Christians! How could a sitting governor, former minister of the Federal Republic and a potential key government appointee be this callous and insensitive?"
According to Evangelist Samuel, "Watching El-Rufai address the Muslim Umma, I have no doubt in my mind that Mallam Nasir El-Rufai is one of those behind the unending religious crisis and insecurity in Nigeria.
"The definition of Justice, equity and fairness is hinged on providing platforms for the involvement of all regardless of their population, religion and tribe.
"One would expect El-Rufai to take advantage of such meetings to discuss the achievements of his government in developing the state and taking his people out of poverty and insecurity but ney. He wants to be celebrated as a religious hero and a Jihadist of high repute. How can our nation grow with this kind of leaders in authority?
"For El-Rufai to think that the Asiwaju vote is a victory for Islam is very unfortunate and speaks volumes of his kind of bigotry. His outburst has destroyed the remaining respect he enjoyed from patriotic Nigerians.
"We call on Asiwaju to be mindful of friends, associates and politicians like El-Rufai who seek to work with him as they will do more harm to the system and the nation and nothing good can come out of such."