The Chairman of Kaduna State Christian Association of Nigeria, Reverend Joseph Hayab, has said the recent remarks by the state’s immediate past governor, Nasir El-Rufai, are aimed at positioning him for the actualisation of his presidential ambition.
In viral video on social media, El-Rufai said that the Muslim-Muslim ticket in the Kaduna governorship election would be sustained beyond 20 years in the state.
In the video, the former governor, who spoke in Hausa, also claimed that Muslim domination was being replicated at the national level.
The ex-governor’s also said the Muslim/Muslim ticket and the victory of President Bola Tinubu silenced his critics and CAN.
Reacting to the deeply divisive utterances, Hayab during an interview on Arise TV on Wednesday, said El-Rufai was taking a leaf from immediate past president, Muhammadu Buhari’s playbook of divisiveness.
He said the ex governor was trying to use the same tactic Buhari used that got him the presidency but he lacked his character, reasoning and aura.
He said “Buhari, in all his three initial attempts to be president, played all these games and it never worked for him. But because he (Buhari) had played that game before, then he went into alliance with other political party and he eventually became the president.
“But Buhari, who he (El-Rufai) is trying to mimic has three things El-Rufai does not have. Buhari was at that time seen, to be honest; Buhari was not talkative nor talk carelessly like you (El-Rufai), and Buhari was seen by people to some extent as someone who they can deal with. But you (El-Rufai), 90 per cent of the people know that everything you (El-Rufai) say is a lie and only for your own gain. So, we know that Kaduna Muslims know that El-Rufai is not speaking for them and we know Muslims won’t think along El-Rufai’s way.
“Someone (El-Rufai) who has eaten and becoming fat from our commonwealth should not because of his selfishness divide us and create unnecessary confusion, Nigeria must not take such a person seriously because if truth be told, he (El-Rufai) needs some checks at the psychiatric (hospital) so that we will be sure whether he is healthy.”
The Kaduna CAN chairman added that with El-Rufai’s alleged agenda, he was setting a trap for President Tinubu.
“El-Rufai is deliberately also setting a trap and setting a slippery ground for Bola Tinubu because the moment these things became heated, then people will go to Bola Tinubu but we know the difference between El-Rufai and Bola Tinubu and others,” Hayab said.