THE Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) in the nineteen Northern States and the Federal Capital Territory has slammed former Kaduna State Governor Nasir El-Rufai for his contentious statement concerning the significance of religion in the 2023 Kaduna governorship race.
During a meeting with some Muslim clerics a day before he left office, El-Rufai justified his choice of Muslims to occupy top positions in the Kaduna State Government over Christians, claiming that Muslims voted for the All Progressives Congress (APC) during the previous election.
In the video, the former governor allegedly assured his audience that Muslim dominance in Kaduna State governance was here to stay, and that this trend had been successfully duplicated at the national level with the election of Bola Tinubu as President.
The statement of the former governor did not sit well with the leadership of CAN, who portrayed him as a disoriented and drowning man seeking attention and relevance after leaving government.
Sunday Oibe, the General Secretary of CAN in the nineteen northern states and the FCT, has urged Nigerians, particularly Christians, not to take El-Rufai’s controversial statement seriously, describing the former governor as a manipulative person who exploits religion to divide the people.
While accusing El-Rufai of dividing the people of Kaduna along fault lines during his eight-year tenure as Governor, Oibe urges President Bola Tinubu not to entrust El-Rufai with any position in his government, noting that the former Governor has a history of betraying his benefactors.
As a result, the CAN scribe cautioned President Bola Tinubu and Kaduna State Governor, Senator Uba Sani, not to play El-Rufai’s game by ensuring that all sections of the country are reunited.
