…Petitioner cites el-Rufa’s admission of accessory to murder by paying killers, arbitrary demolition of properties, others.

by Achadu Gabriel, Kaduna

House of Justice (HoJ), a multi-door justice house in Kaduna, Nigeria, has protested the nomination of the immediate past governor of Kaduna State, Mallam Nasir Ahmad el-Rufai, as Minister of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

In a protest petition, the House of Justice NGO stated that the basis for the protest was the abysmal human rights violations and mass atrocities record, especially during el-Rufai’s 8-years’ tenure as governor of Kaduna State.

The petition, which was signed by the Chief Executive Officer (CEO), and Advocacy Lead of the Organization, Barr Gloria Mabeiam Ballason, cited among other reasons for objection, “el-Rufai’s admission of being an accessory to murder by paying killers, arbitrary demolition of properties of citizens and political opponents, sacking teachers and withholding their salaries, imprisonment and sacking of traditional rulers, journalists and activists as well as the persecution of the Southern Kaduna people.”

The petition further noted that there was a pending verdict of Nigeria’s Parliament that declared el-Rufai as not fit and proper to occupy public office and that international reports such as the 2020 and 2023 British All Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) and Freedom of Religion or Belief (FoRB) reports, dishonourably indicted the former governor.

“The petition, which had attached to it evidence of the  allegations against the embattled former governor, also noted that el-Rufai has no respect for the constitution, rule of law or the code of conduct for public officers and could only fit into a dictatorship and not a democracy. “The petition was  signed as received by the Office of the Senate President,” the statement lamented.