The Middle Belt Forum has told President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to avoid a former Governor of Kaduna State, Mallam Nasir El-Rufai, describing him as a dangerous politician.
The position of the MBF was in reaction to a video in which El-Rufai justified his choice of a Muslim Deputy Governor.
The MBF made its position known in a statement on Sunday by its National Publicity Secretary, Dr. Isuwa Dogo.
The statement described El-Rufai’s remarks as anti-Christian.
The MBF said: “There is no doubt that this former governor remains a clear present and future danger to the unity of our nation.
“He is subtly working for a group that is unremittingly and persistently poised at installing the supremacy of the Islamic faith in the corridor of power.
“Both Governor Uba Sani of Kaduna State and President Bola Ahmed Tinubu should be wary of associating with him.
“He must not be allowed near the corridors of power.”
The MBF called on security agencies in the country “not only to place the former governor under their radar, but he should be invited by the secret police for a chat”, adding: “Considering the comments he made before the clerics, the man who suffers from an inferiority complex must be considered as a dangerous politician riding on the wings of religion for relevance.
“We hereby denounce El-Rufai’s comments before the clerics as a shameless act of national hypocrisy steeped in the premeditated plot to set adherents of both religions on war path.”
In the video, where El-Rufai spoke with a group of clerics just before leaving office, he said: “Why did I pick Dr Hadiza Sabuwa Balarabe to be my deputy in 2019?
“First, I did a thorough calculation that most of those that are not Muslims don’t vote for our party (the All Progressives Congress).
“Most of them.
“So, why should I give them the deputy (governor) position?
“I did my calculation and I knew we could win the election without giving them (position of deputy governor).
“That’s first.
“That’s a purely political issue.
“It’s politics.
“You want to win an election, you’re looking for people that will vote for you.
“We have observed that since we started practising democracy, we know places we used to win elections and those places we don’t.
“ We’ve done that calculation politically.
“That’s the political point of it.”
