Southern Kaduna Communities Want Revisit Of El-Rufai’s Laws

By Ayodele Oni

Communities in Southern Kaduna have tabled tales of woes they suffered under the administration of former Governor of the state, Nasir Elrufai Rufai.

Speaking under the Southern Kaduna, (SKLC) Leadership Council, the communities accused El Rufai’s administration of criminalizing the youths, arbitrary shutdown of local tertiary institutions, unfair retrenchment and civil service bias, lack of IDP camps despite widespread violence and displacement, unlawful boundary adjustments affecting local chiefdoms, expansion of the Kachia Grazing Reserve without community input, and the arrests and dethronement of community leaders.

The SKLC has, therefore, called for a judicial investigation into the administration of former Governor El-Rufai, accusing him of leading a campaign of intimidation and injustice against communities in Southern Kaduna.

At a press conference titled “Dispelling Lies and Hate Against a People”, the Council refuted allegations made by El-Rufai’s former media aide, Muyiwa Adekeye, that some chiefdoms, including Adara, willingly sought changes to their traditional identities.

SKLC Secretary, Timothy Gandu, stated that these claims were not only misleading, but contradicted by official state documents.

Gandu explained that in 2017, the El-Rufai government set up a 13-member committee to review and propose new names for chiefdoms—shifting emphasis from ethnic to geographical identities.

“Out of 25 affected chiefdoms, 17 rejected the changes, and seven clarified that no requests came from them.

“Southern Kaduna, home to over 56 ethnic groups across 12 local government areas, could not have unanimously sought such changes,” the Council argued.

“The claim that traditional institutions across the state independently requested name changes is false. For instance, in Lere LGA with nine ethnic groups, only one made such a request. Similarly, in Kauru and Kagarko LGAs, only isolated requests were made,” Gandu said.

The Council also accused El-Rufai of fueling religious and ethnic divisions during his time in office.

They referenced a widely circulated video in which the former governor reportedly admitted to misleading party members from Southern Kaduna and pushing for a religiously skewed political structure in the state from 2019 onward.

Other serious allegations made against El-Rufai’s administration included the creation of emirates in multi-ethnic communities under the pretext of reform, imposed name changes and removal of traditional rulers, unexplained killings of key community leaders, drastic reduction of districts from 390 to 77, which weakened local leadership structures, and the demotion of Southern Kaduna chiefs under the 2021 Traditional Institution Law.

The Council claimed these actions were part of a calculated plan to alter the demographic balance of Southern Kaduna and reduce its political relevance.

It urged President Bola Tinubu to authorize a full investigation into El-Rufai’s conduct in office, ban him from holding public office for constitutional violations, instruct security agencies to investigate those allegedly paid to suppress violence, and examine actions that may qualify as crimes against humanity.

The group also called on Governor Uba Sani to repeal the 2021 Traditional Institution Law, restore traditional institutions to their status before El-Rufai’s tenure, reassess laws and policies deemed exclusive or discriminatory, and support reconciliation and development in the region.