The Southern Kaduna Peoples Union (SOKAPU) has strongly criticised former Kaduna State Governor, Nasir El-Rufai, accusing him of running an administration built on propaganda, lies, and hostility towards Southern Kaduna.
In a statement on Tuesday, SOKAPU President, Engr. Tabara Samuel Kato, described El-Rufai as “a man in need of help,” alleging that his eight years in office were marked by policies designed to humiliate Southern Kaduna people.
The group’s reaction followed El-Rufai’s recent remarks on Channels Television, where he reportedly downplayed the population and political relevance of Southern Kaduna.
Kato accused the ex-governor of consistently demonising Southern Kaduna clergy and communities during violent attacks, while diverting federal allocations of affected councils under the pretext of damage repairs.
“He demoted our traditional rulers without consultation, changed the names of our chiefdoms, abolished districts and left some chiefdoms with only one district. These were not acts of governance but a fit of untreated madness,” Kato stated.
SOKAPU further alleged that El-Rufai manipulated the indigeneship question in Kaduna, appointing outsiders to key positions while “milking the state dry.”
The group claimed some of his appointees are already refunding huge sums of money to the state through anti-graft agencies, stressing that indigeneship cannot be “donated, created, or taken away by government.”
SOKAPU also faulted El-Rufai’s admission during his tenure that he traced some killers of Southern Kaduna people to Niger, Chad and Mali and allegedly paid them compensation.
“That a government identified murderers and took state resources to appease them remains the highest diplomatic misadventure in history. It is either he lied to steal resources or he simply empowered them to buy more arms,” Kato said.
The group dismissed El-Rufai’s claim that Southern Kaduna people make up less than 25 per cent of the state’s population, pointing to official figures from INEC and the National Population Commission showing otherwise.
According to the figures cited, Southern Kaduna’s 12 local governments contributed about 1.9 million of the 4.3 million registered voters in 2023, representing 43.7 per cent of the state’s voting strength.
“Obasanjo once called him a madman filled with annoyance. When we compare these data with what El-Rufai keeps churning out, we have no hesitation concluding that he is a pathological liar,” the SOKAPU leader added.
Kato accused El-Rufai of making frantic but futile attempts to seize Southern Kaduna lands during his eight years in office, stressing that no land in the region is without owners.
“The efforts of the state and federal government to seize indigenous lands under any guise and donate to roving scavengers shall be resisted. We fought El-Rufai to a standstill in court and we will resist such moves again,” he vowed.
SOKAPU urged the media to be circumspect in featuring the former governor, arguing that “lies from a disturbed brain do not add value to the society.”
“The cancerous acts of El-Rufai have shown him to be a man of no character. Worse still, the madman status ascribed to him by Obasanjo suggests he truly needs help. Nigerians should understand this and recommend help for him,” Kato said.