Kaduna All Progressives Congress (APC) governorship frontliner, Malam Nasir El-Rufai, has berated the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the state for claiming that he hails from neighbouring Katsina State.

Barrister Mohammed Musa Soba, Directorate of Media El-Rufai Campaign Organization, in a statement issued on Monday in Kaduna, North-West Nigeria, said: “Serious issues of governance confront Kaduna State, but on what do its current rulers focus?

“They spent the weekend accusing Malam Nasir El-Rufai of funding one of their gubernatorial aspirants. They followed up by assuming the temerity and authority to decide El-Rufai’s identity for him.

“Having been stung by his critique of their poor performance in Kaduna State, they decided on a ridiculous way to stem the negative assessments: simply declare El-Rufai a non-indigene of Kaduna State in the vain hope to thereby nullify the criticism. And pronto, the PDP simply decreed that El-Rufai is from Katsina State.”

Clearing doubts about El-Rufai’s origin, Soba said: “We shall not dignify their backwardness; save to set the record straight. Malam Nasir El-Rufai was born to Malam Ahmad Rufai, from Zaria. His oldest brother, Air Vice Marshall Ali Rufai (rtd), enlisted in the Nigerian armed forces as an indigene of Zaria.

“Another older brother, Bashir El-Rufai, had a long career in the federal public service as an indigene of Kaduna State. All three El-Rufai brothers are listed in the ‘Who is Who of Zazzau Emirate’, a compendium of renowned sons and daughters of Zazzau Emirate. Alhaji Nuhu Bamalli, the first Zaria indigene to be appointed a federal minister, was an uncle to El-Rufai’s father, and was a well-respected Magajin Garin Zazzau.”

The statement continued: “When El-Rufai served as DG of the BPE and as Minister of the FCT, there was no question of his status as a Kaduna man.

“Prior to public service, El-Rufai had established his fledgling Quantity Surveying firm in Kaduna since 1982, after completing primary, secondary and university education within the state.

“Now that his bid to serve as Kaduna governor is gathering momentum, they shame themselves anew. The renowned and most respected educationist in Northern Nigeria, Alhaji Yahaya Hamza, is not only Nasir El-Rufai’s cousin but blood relation from Zazzau Emirate.

“They are exposing themselves badly enough as masters of division, pettiness and falsehood. They are well-known as specialists in separating people along fault lines be they ethnic, religious and regional, and they are unrelenting in setting so-called settlers against indigenes. A spectre is obviously haunting them, and they are running from pillar to post. But their daydream will deliver nothing, for comedy never trumps reality.

“El-Rufai is offering a positive alternative to the people of Kaduna State. And the people find it credible, because he is a man that has made a success of every public office he has held. He is engaging with and mobilising the people of Kaduna State for a mighty effort of change. And that is a most worthy focus.”

•Photo shows El-Rufai.