Don’t set Nigeria on fire, APC chieftain tells El-Rufai

A chieftain of the All
Progressives Congress in Plateau state, Samuel Kwamkur, on Sunday cautioned
former Governor of Kaduna State, Nasir El-Rufai, not to set Nigeria on fire
with his utterances

Kwankur, who is a former National
Director of the Christian Association of Nigeria, stated this at a press
conference in Jos on Sunday.

He was reacting to statements
allegedly credited to the former Kaduna governor in which he allegedly told his
audience before handing over to his successor that the Islamic dominance in
Kaduna had been successfully replicated in Nigeria and that it shall continue.

El-Rufai, he alleged, equally
told his audience that in the course of the electioneering campaigns, when
“they”(Christians ) tried to ask questions on why the Muslim/Muslim Ticket, he
deceived ‘them’ that it was not for religious dominance when in reality, the
tickets both nationally and at the state level were for Islamic dominance.

He alleged that in the video
containing the speech which has gone viral on social media, El-Rufai further
said that the victory of Bola Tinubu had silenced the Christian Association of
Nigeria, adding that he will sustain an Islamic-dominated government for 20
years and unending not only in Kaduna State but in Nigeria at large

But Kwankur, while reacting to
El-Rufai’s outburst, expressed disappointment at the utterances of the former
governor, noting that the classification of the citizens of his state as ‘them’
versus us’ meant that the former governor cannot be exonerated from “the wanton
killings, demolition of houses and places of worship of Christians in Kaduna”.

Kwankur said he was surprised
that El-Rufai 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 had turned himself into a “confirmed religious bigot with a
hidden agenda to destroy the country using religion”.

He advised El-Rufai not to use
his utterances to mislead Nigerians into thinking that President Bola Tinubu’s
electoral victory was purposely to islamise Nigeria and nothing else.

The former National Director of
CAN said “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 the Sambisa forest albeit disguising
himself 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. That he calculated and discovered ‘we’ can win an election
without ‘them’ hence why give ‘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 the
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 silent 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?
I recall in one of my visits to a friend in Kaduna, he expressed his views
about Mallam El-Rufai”s involvement in the killings in Kaduna and I kept
arguing that he should be given the benefit of the doubt, but 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.”

Continuing, the former CAN
official added “For the record, Christianity does not practice deception as a
principle or mode of operation. The Holy Bible admonishes Christians to say the
truth at all times. Christians are also taught unconditional love regardless of
religion, region and background. In the Christian faith, the Holy Book frowns
against religious discrimination and dominance. The definition of Justice,
equity and fairness is hinged on providing platforms for the involvement of all
regardless of their population, religion and tribe.

“We also believe that God is the
giver of life and power; he gives to whoever He wishes and takes it at the time
He so wishes. Hence boasting of any sort is an open challenge to God’s
sovereignty. Being a member of the Nigeria Interreligious Council (NIREC), I
have closely interfaced with respected Islamic leaders of high repute and found
out that there are Muslim leaders, unlike Mallam El-Rufai who are deeply
concerned about the peace, development, and growth of Nigeria without pretense.

“Truly speaking El-Rufai is a
setback to the peace process that NIREC has been battling with in the midst of
religious upheavals. Mallam Nasir El-Rufai has exhibited blatant misuse of the
trust that God gave him and confirmed that he is an extremist who has largely
contributed to the pains of the very people he took an oath to protect in the
guise of working for his religion.”

He urged the former governor to
use the NIREC platform tom promote unity.

“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 leader in authority? Let it
be known to all Nigerians that those of us Christians who supported His
Excellency Bola Ahmed Tinubu did so out of sincere hope that both himself and
his Vice will work to ensure the sustainable development of Nigeria through
their policies, experience and exposure.

“It should be known that we did
not vote Tinubu out of El-Rufai”s deception (Taqiya) as he claimed! It should
be made known to El-Rufai that against his wild imagination of achieving an
Islamisation agenda through the dominance and persecution of Christians,
Christianity grows better in persecution and supposed dominance. We shall
continue to preach inclusiveness, equity and fair play in the true sense of
these words. We shall never practice deception to cling to power. No! It is
against our faith! May I use this medium to invite Mallam El-Rufai to study the
nature of our God in the Book of Esther especially Chapters 6 & 7 where
Haman’s plot to end the lives of the Israelites ended up consuming his own
life.

“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. May I also use this medium to call on our governors in Nigeria,
particularly our Northern governors to truly work towards removing our battered
citizens from poverty, insecurity and the like and ensure the provision of good
healthcare and other benefits of good governance, rather than to dwell on
preaching hate and religious and tribal differences. I call on our leaders to
show the citizens the number of people they have empowered instead of the
number of lives and property they have destroyed as is happening in Kaduna. I
believe that God shall continue to expose the wolves in sheep’s clothing
amongst Nigerians”