North Central regional group, Middle Belt Forum, MBF, has warned President Bola Tinubu against former Governor of Kaduna State, Nasir El-Rufai, describing him as a “little but dangerous manipulator, national evil that must be avoided at all costs.”
The group while reacting to provocative pronouncements on alleged Islamization by el-Rufai also asked the Department of State Service, DSS, to invite him for questioning.
In a statement by its National Publicity Secretary, Dr Isuwa Dogo, the group also raised an alarm that contrary to denials, the agenda for the planned Islamisation of Nigeria was real and not a fluke.
Recall that the former governor in a video clip, had narrated how he, with others, were determined to ensure the Muslim-Muslim ticket was sustained for another 20 years to ensure Christians come to terms with the indispensability of the same-faith ticket as a panacea for peace in both Kaduna State and the federal level.
But Dogo said what el-Rufai never told his selected preachers “was that the state he ruled and ruined for eight years was turned into Nigeria’s headquarters of kidnappings and human barbarities that led to the murder of tens of thousands of people and decimation of over 100 communities under his watch.
“There is no doubt that this former governor remains a clear present and future danger to the unity of our nation. He is subtly working for a group that is unremittingly and persistently poised at installing the supremacy of the Islamic faith in the corridor of power.
“Both Governor Uba Sani of Kaduna State and President Bola Ahmed Tinubu should be wary of associating with him.
“This little but dangerous manipulator, who is skilled in the politics of deploying religious sentiments, must not be allowed near the corridors of power. He has become a national evil that must be avoided at all costs.
“The forum calls on the Nigerian security agencies not only to place the former governor under its radar but he should be invited by the secret police for a chat.
“Considering the comments he made before the clerics, the man who suffers from an inferiority complex must be considered as a dangerous politician riding on the wings of religion for relevance.
“We, hereby, denounce el-Rufai’s comments before the clerics as a shameless act of national hypocrisy steeped in the premeditated plot to set adherents of both religions on warpath.”
Dogo described as outrageous deceitful attempts by el-Rufai “and his nebulous co-travellers to push our nation down the slippery slope of religious tension and bigotry.”
He said the outrage over the el-Rufai video clip demonstrated the level of disappointment by Nigerians over the former governor’s outburst that was aimed at inflaming religious conflagration in order to destabilize the Nigerian state.
He said: “The unfortunate comments by this bigot, who is erroneously thought of as a nationalist and public intellectual, portray him as a divisive leader, who not only thrives in creating chaos but also reveal him as an irredeemable religious extremist whose antecedents as governor showcases him as a treacherous enemy of Nigeria that must be barred from the corridor of power.
“Even before now, the forum has never been deceived by the pretentiousness of the former governor whose stock in trade is divisiveness hidden under the thin covering of public intellectualism and patriotism.
“When the Senate declared the man who speaks before he thinks incapable of holding public office, not a few agreed to the recommendation of the upper chamber of the National Assembly. Sadly, he found himself in power and unleashed his venom of sadism on both Christians and Muslims.”