I’m Unbothered by Critics Labeling Me Fundamentalist, Says El-Rufai

Former Governor of Kaduna State, Nasir El-Rufai, has dismissed criticisms describing him as a religious fundamentalist, insisting that such perceptions are misplaced and held by people who neither know him personally nor have worked with him.

Speaking on Sunday Politics, a Channels Television programme, El-Rufai said he remains indifferent to the views of his detractors.

“I don’t care. The people that think I am a fundamentalist don’t know me, they have never met me, they have formed their opinion,” he stated. “Frankly, the reason why my enemies are very vehement at hating me is because I don’t care what they think. It’s the way I am. I am very comfortable with what I am. I don’t care what you think. Those that work with me know me.”

On concerns that his leadership style reflected hostility towards residents of Southern Kaduna, El-Rufai rejected such claims, saying governance required firmness and fairness.

“They can think what they think. I don’t tolerate nonsense, governance is not a joke,” he declared. “When you’re governing 10 million people as I did in Kaduna, you must discriminate between A and B.

Nobody can blackmail me that because he is a Christian, the law doesn’t apply to him. There are people in Southern Kaduna that feel entitled to behave in a certain way, I dealt with them.

Some of the closest people I worked with in government are from Southern Kaduna. They know that this is not true.”

The former governor also highlighted reforms carried out under his administration, including measures to stop irregular practices and cut down wasteful government spending.

El-Rufai served as governor of Kaduna State between 2015 and 2023.