ABUJA, NIGERIA — In one of the most blistering public indictments of a former public official by a sitting cabinet member in recent history, Minister of Defence General Christopher Musa (rtd) has accused former Kaduna State Governor Nasir El-Rufai of deliberately inciting division and planning the systemic violence that plagued Southern Kaduna during his eight-year tenure.
Speaking during a fiery interview on Channels Television’s Politics Today, the Defence Minister did not mince words, painting El-Rufai’s administration as a regime of deliberate polarization, heavy-handedness, and institutionalized hostility.
“We can never be happy with somebody who deliberately planned for the killing of our people. El-Rufai did a lot of terrible things in Kaduna State. He divided the state into two—it was toxic.”
— Gen. Christopher Musa (rtd), Minister of Defence
Key Allegations Raised by the Defence Minister
Speaking with the authority of both a former Chief of Defence Staff and a Kaduna native, General Musa outlined a series of grave allegations regarding El-Rufai’s governance style and security record:
- Deliberate Polarization: He accused the former governor of driving a wedge between Northern and Southern Kaduna, creating an atmosphere so hostile that citizens could no longer move or live freely across regional lines.
- Open Admission of Bandantry Payments: He pointed to past public statements where El-Rufai admitted to paying bandits, describing his demeanor as “arrogant” and indifferent to the trauma inflicted on local communities.
- High-Handed Governance: Highlighted El-Rufai’s record of using state power—including heavy machinery—to demolish the private properties of personal and political adversaries.
- Division as an “Enemy of the State”: Declared that any politician who leverages tribe, creed, or religion to fracture Nigerians is fundamentally an “enemy of the state.”
A Shift Under Current Leadership
Contrasting the previous administration with current leadership, General Musa commended incumbent Governor Uba Sani for taking deliberate steps to dismantle the “toxic” legacy, restore inter-community trust, and heal the deep wounds across Southern Kaduna.
While acknowledging that full reconciliation remains a work in progress, the Defence Minister stressed that the reduction in violence under Governor Sani’s administration demonstrates that the previous bloodshed was neither inevitable nor unmanageable—it was engineered.
The Political Fallout
General Musa’s direct intervention marks a major escalation in the ongoing debate over accountability, governance, and security in Northern Nigeria. By framing political weaponization of ethnic and religious lines as an national security threat, the Defence Ministry has signaled a zero-tolerance stance toward divisive politics as the country moves forward.
