I’m A Bonafide Indigene Of Kaduna – El-Rufa’i Reacts To Claims He’s From Katsina State

El-rufaiThe El-Rufai Campaign Organisation has said that contrary to claims by political opponents that the former FCT minister was from Katsina State, Malam Nasir El-Rufa’i is not only a bonafide indigene of Kaduna State but poised to chase out the Peoples Democratic Party-led government in Kaduna come 2015.

A statement on Tuesday signed by Mr Mohammed Musa Soba of the Directorate of Media, El-Rufai Campaign Organisation, noted “with dismay the apparent insistence of the PDP and its pathetic government in Kaduna State to stay strictly comical”.

The group said although serious issues of governance bedeviled Kaduna State, they spent the weekend accusing the former minister of funding one of their governorship aspirants.

His insistence was in reaction to reports at the weekend that he hailed from Daudawa, a village in Katsina State, and, therefore, not competent to run for election in Kaduna.

The statement by the El-Rufai Campaign Organization read in part: “They followed up by assuming the temerity and authority to decide El-Rufai’s identity for him. Having been stung by his critique of their poor performance in Kaduna State, they decided on a ridiculous way to stem the negative assessments: simply declare El-Rufai a non-indigene of Kaduna State in the vain hope to thereby nullify the criticism. And pronto, the PDP simply decreed that El-Rufai is from Katsina State.

“We shall not dignify their backwardness; save to set the record straight. Malam Nasir El-Rufai was born to Malam Ahmad Rufai, from Zaria. His oldest brother, Air-Vice Marshal Ali Rufai (rtd), enlisted in the Nigerian Armed Forces as an indigene of Zaria. Another older brother, Bashir El-Rufai, had a long career in the federal public service as an indigene of Kaduna State. All three El-Rufai brothers are listed in the ‘Who is Who of Zazzau Emirate’, a compendium of renowned sons and daughters of Zazzau Emirate. Alhaji Nuhu Bamalli, the first Zaria indigene to be appointed a federal minister, was an uncle to El-Rufai’s father, and was a well-respected Magajin Garin Zazzau”, the statement noted.