By our reporter
“Well, I don’t know if unhappy is an issue. I think if there’s anything worse than unhappy, we can never be happy with somebody who has deliberately planned for the killing of our people.”
These were pain-filled words from Defence Minister, Gen. Christopher Gwabin Musa, as he reflected on the administration of now-detained former Governor of Kaduna State, Malam Nasir El-Rufai.
El-Rufai was Governor from 2015-2023.
General Musa made the allegation while fielding questions on Channels Television’s Politics Today programme on Thursday (yesterday).
General Musa spoke in response to questions fired at him during the programme.
The Minister, who hails from Zangon Kataf Local Government Area (LGA) in the predominantly Christian southern part of Kaduna State, said El-Rufai’s administration created deep divisions in the North-Central State, alleging that the situation made it difficult for residents from southern Kaduna to live freely in the northern part of the state and vice versa.
“We know how it was when El-Rufai was there; it was toxic.
“El-Rufai did a lot of terrible things in Kaduna State. He divided the country, the state, into two, in that, if you are from the south, you cannot go to the north to live. Those ones from the north were moving to the south,” he said.
The orgy of bloodfests mainly targeted at the southern Kaduna people in the life of the administration blighted the El-Rufai government, with many interpreting it as part of a broader agenda to forcibly Islamize the area and take over the lands and assets of the indigenous people inhabiting that section of the state.
The accusation of execution of a fundamentalist religious agenda was, at the time, also levelled against the Federal Government of now-late President Muhammadu Buhari, whose close ally and confidant El-Rufai was.
Interestingly, petitions over the insecurity in southern Kaduna reportedly formed part of why the Senate rejected confirmation of El-Rufai as a Minister under the President Bola Tinubu administration.
Apparently marooned, El-Rufai on 10 March, 2025, quit the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), joined the opposition and publicly declared his intention, in tandem with others, to remove President Tinubu from office in the 2027 elections.
However, a dispute with his political godson, successor in office and incumbent Governor of Kaduna State, Uba Sani, over an alleged massive debt he left behind as well as Sani’s moves to restore unity to the thoroughly divided state as the template for his new government, opened the door to investigations of El-Rufai’s tenure and a chain of events which have led to his (El-Rufai’s) court-ordered remand in the custody of anti-graft agency, Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) since March this year.
Speaking on the feelings of people in southern Kaduna towards the former governor, Gen. Musa said they remained deeply pained over killings recorded in the area during El-Rufai’s tenure.
The Minister insisted that El-Rufai allegedly deliberately planned the killing of people in the region.
The Defence Minister said residents of southern Kaduna were still traumatised by the killings that occurred during the period, adding that the security situation in the area had improved under the current administration.
“The southern Kaduna people are still very pained. Of course, definitely. I mean, if you look at the number of killings that was done there and what is going on now, you can’t compare at all,” he said.
He slammed the former Governor for his alleged untidy approach to the matter of insecurity in the area.
Musa said: “I mean, when you look at it, if you look at his videos, you know, his speeches, he was very proud of what he did.
“He told us he paid bandits. He told us he did this, he did that. He didn’t hide it. He was that arrogant to come out and tell people that this was what he did.”
Asserting that, in comparison, the Uba Sani administration was like sunshine after prolonged darkness, he added that it has made deliberate efforts to restore unity and rebuild trust among residents of the state.
“Governor Sani within one year has been able to dissolve all that. You see, now everybody is free, everybody has a say. It’s not 100%. Let me tell you, it’s not 100%, but you can see that he’s making deliberate effort in uniting the state,” the Minister noted.
General Musa further accused El-Rufai of denying some people opportunities during his administration and alleged that the former Governor’s policies affected even people from his own part of the state.
“I can tell you what he has done to people living in Kaduna, from his own area. He did a lot of things that I’m sure even him is not proud of,” he added.
The Minister urged Nigerians to reject politicians who exploit religion, ethnicity and other differences to divide the country.
“We should get politicians that want to unite Nigeria. For me, any individual who is using either religion, tribe, creed, or anything to divide the state can never be a friend; can never be somebody we look up to.
“We shouldn’t have those kind of ones in government. Anybody who is using religion or tribe or whatever to divide Nigeria is an enemy of the state,” he maintained.
*PHOTO CAPTION: Gen. Musa (l) and El-Rufai.
