The Nigerian Catholic Diocesan Priests Association (NCDPA) Kaduna, Zaria and Kafanchan Chapters, have expressed concern as they seek the stance of the current governor on the public declaration of Islamic political supremacy by ex-governor Nasir El-Rufai in Kaduna State. The NCDPA made this known in an open letter to Senator Uba Sani, Executive Governor of Kaduna State, as they conveyed shock and disillusionment at the viral video clip where El-Rufai with the governor by his side, addressing a group of Islamic clerics with divisive and hateful comments, declaring Islamic political supremacism in the state and country. The letter jointly signed by Rev. Fr. Joseph Gandu, Chairman, NCDPA, Kaduna Archdiocese, Very Rev. Fr. Douglas Rock, Chairman, NCDPA, Kafanchan Diocese and Very Rev. Fr. Samuel Ameh, Chairman, NCDPA, Zaria Diocese It read in part: “Having soberly considered the contents and implications of such communication by a former State Governor who is known to be your close ally, we feel compelled to write you, to know where you stand with regards to the commotions Mallam El-Rufai intends to propagate and perpetuate in our State.” Congratulating Sani on his emergence as governor, the priests pray for him to succeed in accordance with objectives of government and governance run with good intentions. They however noted that the success of a leader occurs when he fulfills the desires and yearnings of the people he governs, as they added that the establishment of longlost peace and harmony among the people due to insecurity and injustice, must be paramount.
The letter stated: “We write you today because we are responsible stakeholders in the affairs of our beloved state with our own congregations and followers. We cannot fold our hands and watch unpatriotic persons who neither live in the state nor care about it, come and set it ablaze at will. More so, we and our congregations have prominently been at the receiving end of the terrors of ineffective governance, especially in the last eight years. “For the avoidance of doubt, the now-viral video in reference, is that in which ex-Governor Nasiru Ahmed El-Rufai among other things, speaking in Hausa language, categorically made the following points: that most Christians in Kaduna did not vote his party (APC), hence the reason why he orchestrated their exclusion from being even Deputy Governor. APC can win elections without the Christians; for the same reason, he deliberately excluded Christians in all the top cadre of the governance of the state, to wit: Governor, Deputy Governor, Secretary to the State Government, Chief of Staff to the Governor, Commissioner of Finance and so on, whom he bragged, are all Muslims.” The letter noted that Muslim dominated local government areas benefit more from government than Christian dominated ones which the priests said, according to El-Rufai, is what Islamic clerics taught Muslims, and that is justice for him as a Muslim.
The priests called for Sani’s reaction to the utterances of his predecessor so as to bring back some measure of the deeply-battered calm, quiet and confidence which is the expectation of Christians and Muslims for assurance that he intends to be a leader for all. They urged the governor to use his good office to correct the fallacies that El-Rufai’s actions and comments have created and propagated. According to them, “These fallacies are, that: Christians and Muslims in Kaduna State are at war with each other; your party, the APC, is a party for Muslims; being a Christian in Kaduna State is a misfortune if not an offense, as religion automatically excludes one from certain state privileges which should be accessible to all citizens; the inter-religious dialogue promoted even by the state is a mere ploy to deceive non-Muslims and subjugate them to Islamic political domination; your campaign promises were insincere and not ever to be trusted; against the provisions of extant laws, Muslim religious clerics and places of worship have become political campaign officers, and offices/hubs respectively, and so on.”
