‘Almajiri Oppressor’ – Islamic Groups, Others Petition Tinubu Not To Swear In El-Rufai As Minister

Former Kaduna State Governor, Nasir El-Rufai is sweating over the prospect of seeing his confirmation as a minister across the finishing line as several top Islamic Groups in the country have warned President Bola Tinubu not to swear him in as one of his ministers.

There are also several petitions and personal appeals being made to the president to ensure that the former FCT Minister is not confirmed and appointed as a Minister.

THE WHISTLER had reported on Monday that the Senate under the leadership of former Akwa Ibom State Governor, Godswill Akpabio, rejected El-Rufai’s ministerial confirmation.

The former Director General of Bureau of Public Enterprises was among the 28 ministerial nominees the president had sent to the Senate for screening and confirmation in the first batch.

His ordeal before the Senate began when several senators wanted him to address several far reaching petitions against him.

The petitions which several senators said bordered on “national security, human rights abuses and dangerous extreme religious views,” some of which came from Islamic groups, are too “heavy to overlook.”

During the confirmation, the senators were said to have agreed unanimously that “it would be a great disservice to the country if people like El-Rufai are allowed into public office without either renouncing extreme views or accounting for their past misdeeds.”

It was gathered that the Senate indeed took a position that the former governor “must not be appointed into public office again at least for now” but rather chose to put it mildly that his confirmation is on hold.

Joining the anti-El-Rufai group are several Islamic groups. Among them is the coalition of Quranic Memorisers and Reciters, which came together to urge the President not to swear in the former Kaduna State governor as a minister.

According to Sheikh Sidi Aliyu Sise, the Director of Education, Sheikh Dahiru Usman Bauchi Foundation, who spoke for the coalition, El-rufa’i oppressed Almajirai under his leadership when he was a governor hence he’s not fit to be a minister.

“We demand for justice as a result of injustice, harassment, trauma, and difficulties encountered by our disciples, teachers and many Qur’anic scholars, when he evacuated our innocent pupils from the House of Maulana Sheikh Dahiru Usman Bauchi in Kaduna to unknown destination,” he said.

He warned that should the president swear in the former governor as a minister, he has expressed his support for injustice.

There are also reports that several other groups within the Muslim community have also reached out to the president just as they petitioned the Senate to ensure El-Rufai does not get the nod to be sworn in as a minister.

The former Minister could not be reached for comments.

He is yet to respond to his rejection on Monday by the Senate.