CAN slams El-Rufai over ‘Islamization’ video
The Christian Association of Nigeria, Kaduna State chapter, has slammed former Kaduna State Governor Nasir El-Rufai over religious bigotry expressed in a video that has gone in on social media platforms. .
The State chapter CAN President, Rev. John Joseph Hayab criticized El-Rufai extremist video on Wednesday, June 7, 3023 when he appeared on Arise News morning show.
In the video, El-Rufai said that the victory of Bola Tinubu had silenced the Christian Association of Nigeria, boasting to sustain an Islamic-dominated government for 20 years and unending not only in Kaduna State but in Nigeria at large.
CAN, while reacting to the video, described him as an attention seeking bigotry and a mad man in dare need of mental examination at the psychiatric.
CAN stated further that the former governor should not be taken serious because he actually proved to Nigerians that he is not fit to be their leader, adding, El-Rufai has proved to Nigerians that peoples’ emotional stability should first be tested to know if they are mentally fit to lead.
“Nigerians must not take such a person serious because if truth is to be told – he needs some little check at the psychiatric so that we will be sure whether he’s healthy.”
El-Rufai also told his audience that in the course of the 2023 general election campaigns, when “they” (Christians) tried to ask questions on why the Muslim/Muslim Ticket, he deceived ‘them’ that it was not for religious dominance when in reality, the tickets both nationally and at the state level were for Islamic dominance.
Rev. Hayab said God allowed El-Rufai to publicly expose himself through the video widely circulated in the media, adding that El-Rufai is living in the dream, thinking he will play the same card to win presidency tomorrow. “El-Rufai does not have respect for Islam,” he said, adding that the former governor also does not have respect for Islamic provisions.
While noting that what El-Rufai is doing is to confuse people and set up Christian against Muslims Hayab said, “Since he’s up to something, playing a game, what he will do is to confuse people, to set up Christians against Muslims, set up Christians against the current government and then, he will start to benefit tomorrow. Unfortunately, I will say to him, he has failed from the onset.
“Our simple response is, ignore the mad man. Ignore the man who is calling for attention. Ignore the man who is up to a gimmick or an agenda. Don’t even take him serious. I believe even if it’s El-Rufai’s son who succeeded him, he will not behave like El-Rufai.
“El-Rufai is just trying to play game and we don’t want to glorify his game. We simply see him as someone whose era and influence and power are over. But he wants to still be relevant and he wants to bring up something that will give him relevance. He knows that there are so many ignorant people who may think that he is defending faith. But I can tell you that so many Imams will remind him how he demolished their mosques, maltreated them and never respected them as people of faith. So, it’s just politics to gain.
“We will not fight Muslims, we will not accuse Muslims because we know that El-Rufai is not talking for them. We want a united Nigeria. Someone who has eaten fat from our common wealth should not divide us because of selfish gain,” Rev. Hayab stated in the monitored live programme on Wednesday.