By Mohammed Ibrahim
KADUNA (Nigeria) – All Progressive Congress (APC) Governorship Candidate in Kaduna State, Northwest Nigeria, Nasir El-Rufai has accused Governor Muktar Ramalan Yero of breaching peace accord and using religion to gain more popularity in his campaign.
Speaking through his spokesperson, Samuel Aruwan, El-Rufai said the Governor was not interested in the peace accord signed by gubernatorial candidates in the State – only paying lip service on sustainable peace, but manipulating religion to gain more votes.
“We are here to let the people of the state know that the state government is not interested in peace, they are already breaching the peace accord signed under the auspice of the state commissioner of police. Going by our activities, you will agree with me that our campaign has been based on issues unlike that of the ruling party.
“The state government now are running a very dangerous religious campaign. They are at present inciting religious sentiments in the state in order to tarnish the good name of Malam El-Rufai. They are presently circulating text under the name Breaking news and pamphlets in churches against us.
He cautioned people of Southern Kaduna against being used as a milking cow, to keep producing votes for PDP in every election, without corresponding development in the area, saying since the return of democracy in 1999, each Local Government Area in the Southern part of the State has received over a billion-naira allocation but none can boast of meaningful development.
El-Rufai lamented the campaign of calumny and assured that APC, if elected into office would not embark on demolishing people’s houses as propagated by the government in power to scare away voters from electing the party.
“We are not bothered with that because we are Kaduna State indigenes and we know the history of the state. We know that the state is sinking and dwindling. They just need to stop inciting people if not they will end up setting the state on fire,” he said.
But in a reaction, Ahmed Maiyaki, Spokesman of Kaduna State Governor said, the allegations by APC is a clear sign of imminent defeat of a sinking ship, calling on people of Kaduna State to disregard the allegations and go about their lawful businesses without fear of intimidation.
“We view the recent accusations of using religious groups and violence to be a desperate reaction of the APC as a sinking ship that is destined for defeat in the next general elections. The APC cannot deceive the entire people of Kaduna State who have appreciated the effort by Governor Yero to sustain peace and development of the state.
We wonder how the APC can accuse Governor Yero of trying to breach peace in a state that he has worked so hard to stabilise in the last two years. A man can surely not destroy a house that he has laboured to protect for so long and which he is still a shepherd.”
He assured that Governor Yero remained committed to peaceful conduct of all elections as the Chief Security Officer of the state.
