- Raudatul Huffaz Nigeria urges Tinubu, security agencies to ignore calls against El-Rufai’s confirmation, emphasizing competence over sentiment
- Group opposes Tsangaya scholars’ call, believes El-Rufai’s competency, integrity should lead to confirmation despite criticisms
Raudatul Huffaz Nigeria, a group of Qur’anic memorizers, has urged President Bola Tinubu and other security agencies to disregard recent calls to halt Nasir El-Rufai’s inauguration.
The Senate confirmed 45 of the 48 ministerial nominees. El-Rufai is one of three nominees awaiting confirmation.
Some groups and critics of the former governor applauded the Senate’s decision to postpone the confirmation.
However, Raudatul Huffaz claimed that the calls to reject the former governor were motivated by vested interests and that people should prioritise competence over sentiment.
The Qur’anic memorizers also opposed the call by Tsangaya scholars affiliated with the Sheikh Dahiru Bauchi Foundation to reject the former governor’s confirmation because of his decision to oppose the Almajiri system while he was governor.
At a press conference in Jos, Plateau State’s capital, on Wednesday, the group’s chairman, Al-Hafiz Sani Ado Mato, said all the calls against the former governor should not be enough to prevent the president or any other body from confirming him as a minister.
The chairman said;
We strongly believe that the call to reject the former governor is for surreptitious objects. Some people feel that whichever position he is given to handle, they won’t make free money they way they are making. Take it or leave, whichever position you give him, he would definitely turn it around.
He is a man of his word. He is firm in decision making. As patriotic citizens of this country, devoid of any sentiment, El-Rufai is highly competent. Take a look at what he has done as a former minister and former governor, the group said.
On the alleged oppression of the Almajirai during his administration in Kaduna, the group stated, “To our understanding, the former governor was not fighting the Almajirai, but was making efforts to sanitise the system given how the system is run.”
The chairman, on the other hand, stated that the former governor should be confirmed in the interests of justice, fairness, and integrity.