The Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC) has accused the Kaduna State Government of dragging the North back by a hundred years by pursuing political vendetta against former governor Nasir El-Rufai.
MURIC’s allegation was contained in a statement issued on Saturday, 17th August, 2024, signed by its Executive Director, Professor Ishaq Akintola.
The group also slammed the state government for ignoring all the brilliant legal practitioners in the North to pick a lawyer from the South-West for the purpose of prosecuting El-Rufai.
The statement reads, “We are deeply perturbed by the pre-occupation of the Kaduna State Government (KDSG) and its state assembly with the profiling of the immediate past governor of the state, Nasir El-Rufai.
“Most disturbing is the manner the state government ignored all the brilliant minds in the legal profession in the whole North to pick a human rights lawyer from the South-West for the purpose of prosecuting El-Rufai (https://www.naijanews.com/2024/07/18/kaduna-assembly-hires-femi-falana-to-prosecute-el-rufai-for-mega-corruption/).
“This is a slap in the face of not only that of legal practitioners in the North but the entire Northern population. It also constitutes a colossal waste of resources as well as an insult and a disservice to the whole North.
“Besides, this action runs counter to the spirit of recognition for and pride in Northern assets, its people, culture and values as envisioned and enunciated by great Northern leaders like Alhaji Ahmadu Bello, the Sardauna of Sokoto, Alhaji Abubakar Tafawa Balewa and the political maestro of the North, Alhaji Aminu Kano.
“On our fingers, we can count no less than a dozen legal luminaries nulli secundus of Northern origin. On what ground were these found unqualified and ineligible? What parameter did KDSG use to pick its prosecutor from a place so far away from the area of jurisdiction of this case?
“We are miffed that at a time Muslims in the North and South-West have built a bridge across the Niger and actualized the dream of our past heroes, KDSG has deemed it fit to attempt to rubbish the main drammatis personae thereby dragging the North back by a hundred years.
“We put it to the state governor and the state assembly that this latest move was motivated by a blind desperation to nail an innocent man, Nasir El-Rufai, the man who turned Kaduna to London.
“This is not what the North deserves. The stereotyping, prosecution and persecution of El-Rufai is not in the interest of the North. It smirks of a desertification of political acumen. We therefore advise the state government to stop stirring the hornet’s nest. Leave El-Rufai alone.”
