Nigerian Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs (NSCIA) has called on the federal government and the judiciary to ensure fairness in the ongoing prosecution of Nasir el-Rufai, former governor of Kaduna State.
Gatekeepers News reports that Is-haq Oloyede, secretary-general of NSCIA, said the council had initially refrained from commenting on El-Rufai’s case because it regarded the matter as a normal judicial process. He said, however, that recent developments had raised concerns about possible religious considerations in the prosecution.
Oloyede said, “The restraint was because the Council hitherto considered the prosecution as a standard judicial process and that the Judiciary has inherent capacity to uphold justice.” He added that recent developments had raised concerns that “strongly suggest an extraneous involvement of an underlying religious bias against the former Governor.”
The council urged the federal government and judiciary to ensure that religious considerations do not influence the legal process. It also appealed to Nigerians to avoid comments that could prejudice El-Rufai’s trial or worsen the country’s security situation.
The NSCIA’s position followed comments by Defence Minister Christopher Musa, who accused El-Rufai of “doing a lot of terrible things in the state” during an interview with Channels Television on September 4. Musa also alleged that the former Governor created divisions between northern and southern Kaduna.
El-Rufai’s family has meanwhile threatened to sue the defence minister if he fails to substantiate the allegations within seven days.
