The Christians Association of Nigeria (CAN) said that Mallam Nasir El-Rufai, the immediate past governor of Kaduna state, was simply joking when he made his comments in a recent video earlier in the week.
This assertion was made by John Joseph Hayab, the CAN chairman for Kaduna State, during a Wednesday interview with Asrise TV.
El-Rufai was merely advancing his own personal agenda, not speaking for Muslims in Kaduna and Nigeria, according to the chairman of the Kaduna state CAN.
The APC was able to hold onto power in Kaduna because to a popular video of El-Rufai discussing the Muslim-Muslim ticket, and President Bola Tinubu won the 2023 presidential election.
El-Rufai, who was addressing a congregation of Muslim clerics (In Hausa) in Kaduna in the viral, had said, “Despite all the ethic gathering and despite the use of religion that was used , God gave Asiwaju Tinubu Victory.
“We successfully did in Kaduna (Muslim-Muslim ticket) has now been replicated all over the country…” he said
But, reacting to El-Rufai’s claims, Hayab said, “This video in the first place is real, because that is El-Rufai for you. If you have known El-Rufai for 20 years and you watch this video now, you will know this is El-Rufai, because El-Rufai has not changed.
“Let me put it clear, for even thinking that the victory of Asiwaju was a Muslim thing shows that the man is actually living in an inferiority complex, feeling people look down on me, people feel I’m not fit to be. So, he says things and acts to show his might,”he added.
The CAN chairman commented on the Muslim-Muslim ticket and Tinubu’s victory, saying, “Everyone understood that the victory of Asiwaju, whatever others are fighting in court is not our problem. In the beginning, Christians cast a communal vote.
“Benue state is over 90 per cent Christains, Asiwaju won there, so will you say there were no Christain vote. Rivers state, will you say there were no Christian vote and you can go on and on to look at other states.”
Hayab, however, said the true response of CAN was to ignore El_Rufai, adding, “Ignore the man, who is calling for attention. Ignore the man, who is up to a gimmick. Don’t even take him serious.
“I know Uba Sani (the new governor of Kaduna) will find a way of uniting the state and taking it to higher ground, so El-Rufai is just trying to play game and we don’t even want to glorify his game.
“El-Rufai is not speaking for faith. We will not fight Muslims, we will not accuse Muslims, because we know El-Rufai is not speaking for them and we know Muslim will not think that way. We want a united Nigeria. We want a Nigeria that whoever we have given mandate to lead will lead us as a people,” he said.
