The Catholic community in Kaduna State has urged President Bola Tinubu and Governor Uba Sani to summon Nasir El-Rufai to order before he causes a religious crisis in the nation.
The former governor is credited with making a divisive statement on Muslim dominance in Kaduna State’s governance.
According to a viral video, El-rufai claimed in Hausa that most Christians in the state did not support his party, the All Progressives Congress, which is why he organized their removal from even the position of Deputy Governor. This statement was made during a meeting with some Muslim clerics.
Additionally, the former governor asserted that the APC could win elections in the state and the country at large without the assistance of Christians.
However, the Kaduna State chapter of the Nigerian Catholic Diocesan Priests Association (NCDPA) asked Governor Sani to make his official position on El-rufai’s inciting remarks known because Sani was present at the event where El-rufai made the contentious statement in an open letter that was copied to the Presidency and the Governor of Kaduna State.
The chairmen of the Kaduna Archdiocese, Rev. Fr. Joseph Gandu, the Kafanchan Diocese, Rev. Fr. Douglas Rock, and the Zaria Diocese, Rev. Fr. Samuel Ameh, all signed the letter.
The Priests stated that they anticipated Uba Sani would utilize his position to dispel the myths that the former governor’s acts and remarks had fostered over the course of the previous eight years in Kaduna State.
The Presidency and the three Catholic bishops of Kaduna, Kafanchan, and Zaria—Archbishop Matthew Man’oso Ndagoso, Bishop Julius Yakubu Kundi, and Very Rev. Fr. Michael Kagarko, respectively—were also copied on the open letter.
“We cannot sit by while unpatriotic individuals who don’t care about or reside in the state come and burn it on fire at will.
More so, especially over the past eight (cool years, we and our congregations have been directly affected by the horrors of inadequate governance.
“We want you to succeed, which is why we’re writing to you. The letter partially said, “Religion occupies the role assigned to it by the Constitution and should never be exploited as a cloak for ineptitude and failure.