The Middle Belt Forum (MBF) has dissociated itself from anything to do with former Kaduna State governor, Malam Nasir El-Rufai, following his recent comments against the people of Southern Kaduna.
The group also said that it would dissociate with any political party that aligned itself with the former governor and will not vote for the party in the 2027 general elections.
Speaking at a press conference in Kaduna, the MBF National Publicity Secretary, Luka Binniyat, said the forum had taken note of El-Rufai’s remarks and was compelled to caution political actors who may be considering giving him a prominent role to desist from such or lose the vote of the region.
Binniyat said, “Any political party that gives El-Rufai a prominent position or allows him any role be it a coalition of whatsoever stands the risk of losing the votes of the region in the 2027 elections because El-Rufai has clearly shown that he is not a friend of the region and anything that will advance the progress and goodwill of the region.”
Earlier, the chairman, Middle Belt Forum (MBF) Kaduna State Chapter, Air Commodore John Bako Ajeye (rtd), admonished Nasir El-Rufai to desist from spreading falsehood and poisoning the unity in Kaduna state.
He alleged that el-Rufai’s days in the political limelight were numbered, saying that he seems determined to leave the political space as its most disgraced and humiliated figure.
He assured that the forum remained steadfast in its commitment to advocating for equity, transparent governance, and the unity of all peoples of the state, pointing out that unity of the state must be built on truth and justice, not the pathological lies of a failed politician.
He opined that El-Rufai left Kaduna State far more in ruins than he met it, adding that hundreds of thousands of Kaduna citizens were ruined by “his heartless and cruel policies of wanton demolition of residential areas, business premises and inhuman mass sack of workers”.
He stated that el-Rufai was more of a curse to the millions of his victims in Kaduna State than a blessing.
He added that his statements concerning Southern Kaduna, which is an integral part of the Middle Belt community absorbed into the North West geopolitical zone, represent “a dangerous escalation in rhetoric and a direct assault on truth and demography”.
Ajeye stated that the forum must counter what he called “orchestrated campaign of falsehood and demographic gaslighting targeted at the good people of Southern Kaduna and the Middle Belt region”, adding that the former governor’s interview was a “masterclass in deception, a pathetic attempt to rewrite reality and diminish the undeniable political and demographic weight of the area”.
The MBF state chairman said that his comparison of the peaceful, democratic Christian communities of Southern Kaduna to the proscribed Shiite movement is not only “reckless but deeply bigoted”, saying that the “dangerous analogy is designed solely to incite hatred and justify the systemic marginalization and violence these communities have endured, particularly under his administration”.
He observed that they are not surprised by his utterances, describing it as the bitter cry of a man facing a well-deserved political reckoning, with “the direct consequence of the wicked policies he meted out on the people of Southern Kaduna”.
Ajeye opined that el-Rufai’s administration was marked by deliberate balkanization of traditional institutions, unjust redrawing of electoral wards to disenfranchise their people, wholesale abandonment of critical infrastructure projects, and a shocking, blatant disregard for the security of lives and property.
He explained that El-Rufai had forgotten that he was the first governor to admit on national television that he paid bandits and was caught on video stating that the Muslim-Muslim ticket was deliberately chosen to “enthrone Islam” but contradictorily claims it was merely to win an election, being the height of dishonesty.