With Governor Nasir El-Rufai picking the Executive Secretary, Kaduna State Primary Health Care Agency, Dr. Hadiza Abubakar Balarabe as his running mate in next year’s gubernatorial poll, and the All Progressives Congress (APC) settling for a Muslim-Muslim ticket, the governor appears to have set the stage for another unrest in the volatile state.

Governor el-Rufai announced his choice following the decision of Deputy Governor, Bala Barnabas Bantex, not to join el-Rufai in the 2019 race preferring to represent the people of Southern Kaduna Senatorial District at the Senate on the platform of the same party.

But not only are tempers rising and nerves frayed over the development, the Christian community in the state, and the predominantly Christian Southern Kaduna people have lambasted el-Rufai for the alleged misstep, saying the action may further fragment the state and promote disunity in a multi-cultural and multi-religious society, just coming out of crisis.

Furthermore, critics are of the view that his claims that the move was part of deliberate policy to promote women’s participation in governance, has failed to take cognizance of inherent geo-political idiosyncracies in the state, just as it smacks of insensitivity on his part.

Already, the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) in the North, yesterday, said the declaration might pitch the people against one another and exacerbate the prevailing political unrest.

Also, the President, Arewa Youths for Development and Progress (AYFDP), Comrade Danjuma Sarki said: “I want to say that el-Rufai as a candidate, and APC as a party have a right to choose whoever they like as running mate, but it is also the people’s responsibility to interpret the motive behind the choice. I know the governor’s action was for his own selfish interest.

“The governor is trying to ride on the people’s gullibility to further his political ambition. Since el-Rufai came into power, we are aware that most of his policies were not to foster unity and peaceful coexistence among the people.”

•Excerpted from The Guardian report

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