House of Justice, a Kaduna based multi-door justice house has protested the nomination of the immediate past governor of Kaduna State, Mallam Nasir Ahmad Elrufai, as Minister of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, stating as basis for the protest, his abysmal human rights violations and mass atrocities record especially during his 8-year tenure as Governor of Kaduna state.
The Petition which was signed by Gloria Mabeiam Ballason Esq, the Chief Executive Officer and Advocacy Lead of the organization, cited among other reasons for objection, Elrufai’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 of journalists and activists, and sacking of traditional rulers 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 Elrufai 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 Elrufai 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 in Abuja.
Recall that during the ministerial screening on the floor of the senate on Tuesday a senator from Kogi West senatorial District, Senator Sunday Karimi informed the senate that he is in possession of a petition against Elrufai over the issue of insecurity in Southern Kaduna.
Karimi said during the screening, “Mr. President, I have a petition written against the nominee over the issue of insecurity in Southern Kaduna when he was governor.
“If I am permitted, I will like to read the petition.”
Senator Karimi was never given the chance to read his petition.
Ironically, the three senators from Kaduna state including that of Kaduna Southern senatorial District where Elrufai is accused of human rights violations, and other related allegations all passed votes of confidence on the former governor.
Whether the senate will act on House of Justice’s petition it has acknowledged receipt of is left to be seen.
Find below the complete petition;
https://www.vanguardngr.com/2016/12/weve-paid-fulani-stop-killings-southern-kaduna-el-rufai/
2. He threw thousands of traders and citizens out of jobs by demolishing markets and destroying goods and services without compensation.
https://dailytrust.com/kasupda-begins-demolition-of-kasuwar-barci/
SEE EXHIBIT 2
3. He made hundreds of thousands of people homeless by demolishing their homes without compensation and devoid of legal cause or court orders and continued the spree until his last days in office.
https://editor.guardian.ng/news/el-rufai-approves-demolition-of-imn-gbagyi-properties-others/
https://www.tvcnews.tv/2021/10/kaduna-govt-demolishes-140-houses-in-zaria-lga/.
SEE EXHIBITS 3
4. He destroyed the houses of those who held different opinions to his including persons in his own party and outside it. Sen. Suleiman Othman Hunkuyi’s home was demolished and turned into a park. Former Attorney General of Katsina, Alh. Inuwa Abdulkadir, died while waiting for justice for his house which was arbitrarily destroyed by Mallam Nasir Ahmad Elrufai.
https://www.vanguardngr.com/2018/02/governor-demolishes-senators-house.
https://www.vanguardngr.com/2018/02/demolition-go-court-aggrieved-kaduna-govt-tells-hunkuyi/amp
SEE EXHIBITS 4
5. He sacked thousands of teachers from their jobs and refused to pay teachers their salaries. Some teachers had it worse, they were killed while trying to undergo needless verification exercises he imposed.
https://saharareporters.com/2021/05/16/kaduna-governor-el-rufai-has-sacked-about-70000-workers-2016
https://www.sunnewsonline.com/agony-of-kaduna-teachers-over-unpaid-salaries/?amp
https://dailytrust.com/zaria-blast-kills-dozens-injured-many-workers/.
SEE EXHIBITS 5
6. Traditional Rulers were imprisoned or killed under his watch in questionable circumstances and he decapitated what remained of the traditional institution by proscribing chiefdoms, changing the identity of people and arbitrarily sacking traditional rulers.
https://www.vanguardngr.com/2018/10/kidnapped-kaduna-traditional-ruler-killed-by-kidnappers/
https://guardian.ng/news/gunmen-kidnap-south-kaduna-monarch-yohanna-kukah/
https://ynaija.com/opinion-hrh-dr-ishaku-sabo-damina-bgwan-kurmi-persecuted-el-rufai/
SEE EXHIBITS 6
7. The Nigeria Labour Congress, led by their national president tried to resolve the crises he had with Kaduna State workers but he turned the NLC’s intervention into a wrestling spree and unleashed security apparatus against them.
https://placng.org/Legist/kaduna-boils-as-govt-labour-battle/
https://dailytrust.com/kaduna-shutdown-fg-intervenes-as-el-rufai-labour-stick-to-their-guns/
SEE EXHIBITS 7
8. Journalists and activists who endeavored to report the rape of law and justice carried out by his government were arbitrarily arrested, persecuted and thrown into prisons.
https://www.csw.org.uk/2022/02/04/press/5572/article.htm.
SEE EXHIBITS 8
9. Elrufai lacks the ability to lead in a plural society. He particularly showed disdain, hate and persecuted the people of Southern Kaduna.
https://leadership.ng/el-rufais-viral-video-southern-kaduna-elders-want-gurara-state/
https://www.pulse.ng/news/local/people-of-southern-kaduna-accuse-el-rufai-of-spreading-lies/mexphte
https://guardian.ng/news/southern-kaduna-indigenes-accuse-el-rufai-of-incitement-hate-speeches/
10. There is a pending verdict of Nigeria’s Senate that Mallam Nasir Ahmad Elrufai is not a fit and proper person to occupy public office.
https://dailytrust.com/why-el-rufai-should-not-hold-public-office-dantiye/.
11. The 2020 and 2023 British All Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) and Freedom of Religion or Belief (FoRB) Report, Nigeria Unfolding Genocide? Records that Nigeria is the global epicenter of violence against Christians and Mallam Nasir Ahmad Elrufai got a dishonorable mention in the reports.
https://psjuk.org/igeria-unfolding-genocide-an-appg-uk-report/
CONCLUSION.
Attached are evidence of the submissions in this petition. Mallam Nasir Ahmad Elrufai has no respect for the Constitution, rule of law or the code of conduct for public officers. Good performance and compliance with the rule of law are not mutually exclusive. Elrufai fits into a dictatorship where brute force is the hallmark of rulership but poses great danger to fundamental freedoms and the ideals of democracy.
Your Excellency and the Senate may wish to clerk in and reserve his performance to a government of brute force. Nigeria with a population of over 215 million people is not without more capable candidates who would deliver on the demands of ministerial office while upholding the Constitution please.
Yours truly,
Gloria Mabeiam Ballason Esq
C.E.O. House of Justice
gloriaballason@houseofjusticeng.com
+2348028407332
