El-Rufai Divided Kaduna, Paid Bandits and Abused Power, Defence Minister Christopher Musa Alleges

In an unprecedented and highly explosive public disclosure, Nigeria's Minister of Defence, General Christopher Musa, has launched a stinging critique against the former Governor of Kaduna State, Mallam Nasir El-Rufai. Speaking during a live broadcast, the Defence Chief accused El-Rufai of actively orchestrating policies that allegedly deepened ethno-religious polarization and physical segregation in the historically volatile state during his eight-year tenure.

According to General Musa, the former governor's administration fostered an atmosphere of deep-seated division, creating geographic and social barriers that prevented citizens from different backgrounds from coexisting peacefully. The Defence Minister asserted that the administration effectively segregated Kaduna State, forcing residents from the southern region to flee to the south, while those from northern extraction migrated northward in fear, a scenario he described as highly anomalous for a unified democratic country.

Furthermore, General Musa raised critical security concerns, claiming that El-Rufai's public posture and policy decisions directly compounded the security crises that plagued Kaduna for years. He pointed to several highly controversial public statements made by the former governor, in which El-Rufai allegedly boasted of paying off bandits to cease hostilities, a move security analysts argue only served to weaponize and financially empower non-state actors in the region.