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El-Rufai Should Stop The Hypocrisy Now: Nigerians Remember Your Kaduna Record, Trail Of Division, Failure And Atrocities
Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) Strategist notes with dismay and utter disappointment the recent outburst of former Kaduna State Governor, Mallam Nasir El-Rufai, where he attempted to posture as a moral compass and even went as far as condemning President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and the APC-led Federal Government, accusing them of economic collapse and lack of presence in governance.
We consider these utterances not only hypocritical but a deliberate act of political blackmail from a man who, during his eight years in office, presided over one of the most divisive, authoritarian, and failed administrations in Nigeria’s democratic history.
It is laughable that Mallam El-Rufai, whose record in Kaduna State remains a scar of ethnic bigotry, human rights violations, mass sack of workers, and complicity in the Southern Kaduna killings, would today pretend to be an ADC apologist or impostor with a sudden concern for Nigerians. His antecedents betray his every word.
OUR POSITION:
1. Freedom and Human Rights Abuses: Under El-Rufai, Kaduna was adjudged the worst place in Nigeria to be a journalist. He jailed journalists like Luka Binniyat, Anthony Jacobson, and Audi Maikori unlawfully, suppressed free speech, and weaponised hate speech laws against critics.
2. Ethno-Religious Division and Chieftaincy Manipulation: In 2017, El-Rufai’s administration created a 13-member “reform” committee that renamed 25 chiefdoms in Southern Kaduna, slashed districts from 390 to 77, and deliberately weakened the roles of traditional rulers. Chiefs were demoted, re-graded, and stripped of authority, all in a bid to promote Fulani hegemony in Kaduna State. Timothy B. Gandu even cited official documents, including a June 20, 2017 letter from the Secretary to the State Government (SSG), as proof that the state government under El-Rufai not traditional institutions—originated this controversial process of altering the chieftaincy system.
3. Complicity in Violence: El-Rufai admitted to using state funds to “compensate” terrorists, a move that worsened killings in Southern Kaduna. He failed to establish IDP camps, ignored intelligence on impending attacks, and refused to visit massacre sites, displaying indifference to mass killings under his watch.
4. Economic and Social Injustice: He sacked over 34,000 workers including 21,000 teachers, without severance or entitlements. Many families in Kaduna still live with the hardship of those policies. He expanded Fulani grazing reserves without the consent of host communities, displacing indigenous farmers.
5. Educational Intolerance and Neglect: El-Rufai’s administration left hundreds of schools in Kaduna without roofs, forcing children to learn under trees. Instead of addressing education decay, he diverted state resources to personal image-laundering scholarships abroad. The notorious University of Oxford scandal, where he was exposed by journalist David Hundeyin for using Kaduna State funds to burnish his personal image, remains a blot on his record.
6. Abuse of Power: His government demolished homes and churches in defiance of court orders, threatened communities like Gonin Gora, harassed traditional rulers until death or dethronement, and ignored due process in land allocation and governance.
7. Targeting Critics: Activists like Auta Maisamari, Imam Danleeman Isah, and Haruna Kuye were silenced through harassment, detention, and suspicious deaths. Critics like Abubakar Idris (Dadiyata) disappeared under questionable circumstances, with his own son mocking the tragedy online.
With this track record of failure, oppression, and division, El-Rufai has no moral right to speak against President Bola Ahmed Tinubu or the APC government at the centre. Nigerians must not be deceived by his sudden posturing as an opposition figure.
ON THE ECONOMY:
President Bola Ahmed Tinubu inherited a structurally weak economy, long neglected and plagued by systemic decay. His government has taken bold, painful but necessary reforms to stabilise the Naira, clean up subsidy corruption, and lay a foundation for sustainable growth. Unlike El-Rufai, who left Kaduna in debt, division, and despair, President Tinubu is working to unify Nigeria and restore confidence in governance.
OUR MESSAGE TO El-RUFAI:
Rather than seeking cheap relevance through baseless attacks, Mallam El-Rufai should tender an unreserved apology to Nigerians, particularly the people of Southern Kaduna, for the atrocities, economic dislocation, and ethno-religious tensions his government entrenched.
OUR CALL TO NIGERIANS:
Civil Society Organisations will not allow revisionist politicians like El-Rufai to rewrite history or paint themselves as saints after years of oppression. Nigerians must stay focused on supporting national recovery efforts and refuse to be distracted by voices of failed leaders seeking a comeback through lies and propaganda.
For CSO’s Strategist,
Signed:
Balogun Hameed
Convener
Frontline socio-economy Research centre (FSRC)
Co- Conveners
* Workbond international Network (WIN)
* Yoruba Youth Assembly (YYA)
* Congress of Nigeria youth League (CNYL)
* Lagos State Liberation Congress (LASLIC)
* People’s Accountability and Transparency (PAT)
* Vanguard for Social Justice (VSJ)
* Centre for Human Rights (CHR)
* Centre for Peace Initiatives (CPI)
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