Former Kaduna State Governor, Nasir el-Rufai, has responded to accusations of being biased against Southern Kaduna people and being a fundamentalist by asserting his commitment to fair governance without discrimination.
el-Rufai, who was responding to questions during an interaction on Channels Television programme on the perception that he hates Southern Kaduna people, said that people can think what they want, but he does not tolerate nonsense.
The former Governor emphasizes that governance is serious and he does not discriminate between groups.
According to him, he dealt firmly with those who felt entitled to behave in certain ways, including some in Southern Kaduna.
Also on the accusations of being a fundamentalist, El-Rufai stated that he does not care about those opinions because those people do not know him.
The former Governor said he is comfortable with who he is and what he is, and those who worked with him, including people from Southern Kaduna, know that the accusations are not true.
Speaking on his actions regarding government funding and privileges, El-Rufai said he stopped funding pilgrimage and other wasteful government expenditures.
He also discontinued the practice of providing monthly financial support to some entitled Southern Kaduna Christian leaders for medical check-ups.
Explaining the balance of power and representation of Christians in Kaduna State government, El-Rufai points out that Christians are less than 30% of the population, so they should not expect 50% of government positions.
Southern Kaduna accounted for over 60% of the civil service, so claims of marginalisation are unfounded, the former Governor stressed.
“They can think what they think. Sheun, I don’t tolerate nonsense. Governance is not a joke. When you are governing 10 million people as I did in Kaduna, You must not discriminate between A and B,” said El-Rufai while responding to questions from tge programme anchor, Seun Okinbaloye.
“Nobody can blackmail me that because he’s a Christian, the law doesn’t apply to him. There are people in Southern Kaduna who feel entitled to behave in a certain way, and I didn’t take it.
“I dealt with them. Just as the IMN, El-Zakzakys’ people, who thought that they could do anything they wanted and get away with it, we dealt with them.
“El-Zakzaky people are Muslims, like me, but I didn’t take any nonsense from them. Go and ask them. They consider me an enemy. How do you then explain to those who think that you are a fundamentalist? I don’t care.
“The people who think that you are a fundamentalist? I don’t care. The people who think I’m a fundamentalist don’t know me. They have never met me.”
He added, “They have formed their opinion. And frankly, the reason why my enemies are very vehement at hating me is because I don’t care what they think. It’s the way I am. I’m very comfortable with who I am and what I am.
“And I don’t care what you think. You know me. Those that worked with me know me. Some of the closest people I worked with in the government I empowered are from Southern Kaduna. They know that this is not true.
“But there are people, there are some entitled Southern Kaduna Christian leaders who are used to getting money every month from the government, $20,000, who are being used to giving $20,000 to go for medical checkup everywhere. I stopped it.”
