El-Rufai’s family gives defence ministe 7 days to retract comment on Kaduna killings

The family of former Kaduna State Governor, Nasir El-Rufai, has given the Minister of Defence, Christopher Musa, seven days to substantiate his allegation that the former governor was involved in planning killings in Southern Kaduna.

The demand was contained in a statement issued on Monday by Bello El-Rufai, a member of the House of Representatives, on behalf of the former governor’s family.

Musa had made the allegation during a live interview on Channels Television’s *Politics Today* on September 3, accusing El-Rufai of “doing a lot of terrible things” in Kaduna State and alleging that he played a role in the killings recorded in Southern Kaduna while he was governor.

The minister also accused the former governor of creating divisions between northern and southern parts of the state and restricting movement between the two areas.

“El-Rufai did a lot of terrible things in Kaduna state. He divided the state into two,” Musa said.

“In that, if you are from the south, you cannot go to the north to live. Those ones from the north were moving to the south.”

Musa further accused El-Rufai of paying bandits, claiming that the former governor had publicly disclosed actions taken by his administration.

“He told us he paid bandits. He told us he did this; he did that. He didn’t hide it,” Musa said.

Despite the allegations, the defence minister said he did not consider El-Rufai an enemy, describing him instead as “misguided”.

### Family demands evidence or retraction

Reacting to the minister’s comments, El-Rufai’s family said Musa had failed to provide evidence for his allegation that the former governor actively planned killings in Southern Kaduna.

The family acknowledged that Musa was entitled to his opinion but insisted that allegations of criminal conduct should be supported by credible evidence.

“During the programme, General Musa alleged that Mallam Nasir El-Rufai actively planned killings in Southern Kaduna while serving as Governor of Kaduna State,” the family said.

“This grave allegation was made without the presentation of any evidence in support of the claim.”

Consequently, the family gave Musa seven days from the date of the statement to either substantiate the allegation or publicly withdraw it and apologise.

“Accordingly, General Musa (Rtd.) is hereby given seven (7) days from the date of this statement to either provide evidence in support of his allegation or issue a full public retraction and apology,” the family said.

The family warned that it would resort to legal action should the minister fail to comply with the demand.

“Failure to do so will leave the family with no option but to pursue all appropriate legal remedies available under the law in response to these unsubstantiated allegations,” the statement added.

Meanwhile, following his re-election, El-Rufai’s successor, Governor Ademola Adeleke, had urged Oyebamiji and other candidates to put aside their differences and support his administration.