An All Progressives Congress chieftain in Bauchi State, Khamis Musa Darazo, has rejected attempts to frame recent comments by Defence Minister Christopher Musa about former Kaduna State Governor Nasiru El-Rufai as a sectional or religious issue.
Darazo, a supporter of President Bola Tinubu, said on Saturday in Bauchi that the governance challenges associated with El-Rufai were experienced across Kaduna State and not limited to Southern Kaduna.
He was reacting to interpretations of comments made by the Defence Minister during an interview on Channels Television, particularly his use of the phrase “our people”.
Darazo argued that the expression referred to Kaduna residents generally rather than exclusively to people from Southern Kaduna.
“The reality is that the grievances surrounding El-Rufai’s style of governance were felt across Kaduna State and not exclusively by the people of Southern Kaduna,” he said.
He also dismissed suggestions that Musa’s comments amounted to criticism of El-Rufai on religious grounds, describing such an interpretation as misplaced.
According to Darazo, the fact that President Tinubu and Kaduna Governor Uba Sani are Muslims does not prevent them from pursuing policies aimed at reducing division and promoting unity.
He urged Nigerians not to turn the controversy into a religious or regional confrontation, saying such interpretations could deepen existing divisions.
“As a loyalist of President Tinubu and someone who believes strongly in national unity, I will not support attempts to turn this matter into a religious or regional confrontation,” he said.
Darazo maintained that different communities across Kaduna experienced different challenges under the former governor and said their experiences should not be reduced to those of a single section of the state.
“Our people can never mean only Southern Kaduna. It means the people of Kaduna State as a whole,” he said.
He called for greater focus on responsible leadership, peace, justice, unity and security, rather than what he described as attempts to distort the context of Musa’s remarks.
“Kaduna belongs to all its people, and no community should be made to feel that its experience does not matter,” he added.
