A chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Hassan
Ahmed Rufai, and other members of the party have alleged that All Progressives
Congress (APC) governorship aspirant, Nasir el-Rufai, was originally from
Katsina State and should stop heating up the polity in Kaduna, where the people
had helped him grow from obscurity.
Speaking in an interview, Rufai recalled that el-Rufai,
former Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, had once told some
inhabitants of Unguwan Sarki in Kaduna North Local Government Area, who had
visited him in Abuja that he was not an indigene of Kaduna State.
According to him, their investigation had revealed that the
guber hopeful was from Daudawa, a village in Katsina State, but grew up in
Kawo, Kaduna North Local Government Area, under the guardianship of a retired
federal permanent secretary.
“We know him as a person that was raised by the respected
elder statesman. We in Kaduna, we are liberal and accommodating. But sometimes
many people take that for granted. El-Rufai had told the Kaduna people that he
was not their minister, why should he now come to seek for their votes? He
should go to Katsina,” he said.
On the recent assurance by el-Rufai that he would not
demolish people’s houses if elected governor, reminiscent to what he did in the
Federal Capital Territory, Rufai declared that the former minister was not a
friend of masses but had been promoting the elite class and those in high
authority. He concluded that in an attempt to impress his class, el-Rufai had
the tendencies of coming up with policies that might not augur well for the common
people.
“If el-Rufai could muster the courage and demolish places of
worship in the FCT when he was minister, what assurance do we have that he will
not demolish people’s houses in Kaduna? I pity petty traders and artisans,
those doing business by the roadside to eke a living. They are at risk; God
save us,” Rufai said.
