– Responds to Allegations Against Chidi Odinkalu, Describes El-Rufai’s Tenure as a “Reign of Terror”
In a powerful and emotionally charged world press conference held today at Epitome Hotel, Kaduna, the Southern Kaduna Leadership Council (SKLC) mounted a vigorous defense of Professor Chidi Odinkalu, while launching a scathing condemnation of former Kaduna State Governor, Malam Nasir El-Rufai, over what they called a “reign of terror” during his administration.
The press briefing, titled “Dispelling Lies and Hate Against a People: El-Rufai’s Reign of Terror Against Southern Kaduna”, was a direct response to an article by Muyiwa Adekeye, El-Rufai’s former media adviser, who had accused Professor Odinkalu of lying in his critique of the balkanization of Southern Kaduna chiefdoms.
“We hereby reject in its entirety the false claims made by Muyiwa Adekeye… that Chiefdoms, including that of Adara, requested the creation of Chiefdoms and the alteration of their Chiefdoms’ nomenclature,” declared SKLC Secretary Timothy B. Gandu, who signed the communique.
The Council described Adekeye’s account, published in The Cable on June 3, as “misleading,” stating that it was the El-Rufai government that initiated a 13-member committee in 2017 to “review the existing chieftaincy system in Kaduna State,” with the explicit goal of stripping the nomenclature of ethnic identity.
Referencing government documents, the SKLC detailed the terms of reference issued to the committee, which included:
- Replacing names of chiefdoms emphasizing ethnic affiliations with town-based names.
- Regrouping chiefdoms based on “cultural affinities” and “peculiarities.”
- Recommending a shift from ethnic to geographic nomenclature.
They argued this effort was a deliberate attempt to erase the identity of Southern Kaduna’s over 56 ethnic groups across 12 local governments.
According to the SKLC, in several LGAs like Lere, Kauru, and Kajuru, only a minority ethnic group supported a change in chiefdom names, yet El-Rufai allegedly orchestrated these changes through manipulation and ignored the 17 out of 25 affected chiefdoms that opposed the name change.
The Council went further to quote El-Rufai’s own statements following the 2023 elections, where he allegedly admitted to deceiving Southern Kaduna members of his political party and pursuing a Muslim-Muslim political agenda since 2019.
They accused the former governor of fostering division along religious and ethnic lines, referencing a viral video where El-Rufai purportedly confessed to pitting “Christians against Muslims, and one ethnic group against another.”
The Council presented a list of 12 major allegations against the former governor, including:
- Arbitrary creation of Emirates in multi-religious and multi-ethnic areas.
- Murder and deposition of traditional rulers.
- Illegal boundary adjustments and land confiscation, including expansion of Kachia Grazing Reserve from 33,400 to 77,000 hectares.
- Massive retrenchment of Southern Kaduna civil servants and lopsided policies.
- Closure of tertiary institutions in Southern Kaduna alone.
- Denial of Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) camps during bandit attacks.
- Incarceration and dethronement of Southern Kaduna leaders.
- Demotion and regrading of traditional rulers under the Kaduna State Traditional Institution Law, 2021.
The SKLC called on President Bola Ahmed Tinubu GCFR to:
- Mandate a judicial inquiry into El-Rufai’s actions while in office.
- Enforce the ruling of a Federal High Court, which allegedly found him guilty of abuse of power.
- Ban El-Rufai from holding any political office for life.
- Investigate state funds paid to armed groups to “prevent them from killing Southern Kaduna people.”
- Prosecute El-Rufai if found guilty of complicity in “genocidal acts” and “crimes against humanity.”
In contrast, the SKLC commended the current Kaduna State Governor, Sen. Uba Sani, for beginning efforts to reverse some of El-Rufai’s policies and for backing inclusive development projects such as the Federal University of Applied Science in Kachia and Federal Medical Centre in Kafanchan.
They also expressed gratitude to President Tinubu for running an inclusive government: “Southern Kaduna has begun to feel the presence of government,” the statement read.
In closing, the SKLC reaffirmed its appreciation to all who have stood with the people of Southern Kaduna in their quest for justice and dignity.
“We will never forget the myriad of wrongdoings inflicted by El-Rufa’i… Southern Kaduna has suffered injuries due to a deliberate and systematic deprivation of their rights and privileges,” the Council stated.
Find below the full Release:
WORLD PRESS CONFERENCE BY SOUTHERN KADUNA LEADERSHIP COUNCIL (SKLC) HELD ON WEDNESDAY 11TH JUNE, 2025 AT EPITOME HOTEL.
DISPELLING LIES AND HATE AGAINST A PEOPLE: EL RUFAI’S REIGN OF TERROR AGAINST SOUTHERN KADUNA. BEING A RESPONSE TO MUYIWA ADEKEYE’S UNTRUTHFUL WRITE–UP THAT PROFESSOR CHIDI ODINKALU LIED IN HIS PIECE ABOUT EL-RUFAI BALKANISATION OF SOUTHERN KADUNA CHIEFDOMS
We wish to begin this press briefing by extending our heartfelt congratulations to the Muslim ummah on this year’s Eid al-Adha celebrations. We pray that Allah, accept the worship of sacrifice and grants us peace, stability and progress. May He bless us with the opportunity to witness another in peace and good health next year. Similarly, we congratulate Nigeria for celebrating 26 years of unbroken democracy tomorrow, June 12.
The Southern Kaduna Leadership Council (SKLC) hereby rejects in its entirety the false claims made by Muyiwa Adekeye, Media Adviser to former Governor of Kaduna State, Malam Nasir Ahmad el-Rufai, in which he stated that Chiefdoms, including that of Adara, requested the creation of Chiefdoms and the alteration of their Chiefdoms’ nomenclature.
Contrary to this misleading account published in The Cable newspaper of 3rd June 2025, it was the el-Rufai government that established a 13-member committee to review the existing chieftaincy system in Kaduna State through a letter with reference number SSG/KDS/508 dated 20th June 2017 and signed by the Secretary to the Kaduna State Government, with the terms of reference that included:
“i. To examine the existing nomenclature of the graded chiefs that emphasizes ethnic identities and to propose new names based on towns and the locations of chiefdoms, while taking due cognizance of the historical antecedents of the chiefdoms.
“ii. To study the cultural affinities, long-standing historical antecedents and other peculiarities of the people within the chiefdom/emirate and advice on possible regrouping.
Furthermore, the 13-man sub-committee in a circular titled: Appointment of Committee to Review the Existing Chieftaincy System in the State’, dated 24th July, 2017 requested from the Emirs and Chiefs, to among other things “be informed that as part of the continued efforts of the present administration to restore the esteem of the traditional institution in the state….” And instructed the Traditional Council.
“iii. To make recommendations for a change of nomenclature of your chiefdom from existing ones that emphasizes ethnic affiliation to one which will be based on town and location.
It is on record that Lere Local Government, comprising nine (9) ethnic groups with their recognized traditional institutions only one ethnic group wrote requesting for change of nomenclature. In Kauru LGA with 21 ethnic groups same was the case, and Kagarko LGA, which has no fewer than four (4) ethnic groups a similar request by one ethnic group, was made for a change of nomenclature from chiefdoms to emirates. While , in Kajuru LGA, Kajuru Chiefdom which was smaller than any of the districts in Adara Chiefdom wrote requesting for change of nomenclature. We have it on good authority that El Rufai orchestrated the background work initiating these requests. The Southern Kaduna region, with over 56 ethnic groups across twelve LGAs, cannot reasonably be said to have requested the creation of chiefdoms or a change of nomenclature. Out of 25 indigenous Chiefdoms whose names El-Rufai decided to change, 17 wrote to state that the names and titles of their chiefs should not be changed. 7 others wrote to state that they did not ask for the nomenclature of their Traditional Institutions be changed. Yet, El-Rufai ignored the written views of the Traditional Councils. Since most of these issues are in court we refrain from preceding any further on the matter than put it starkly that Muyiwa Adekeye who hails from Kwara state has meddled enough in matters he has no locus to in.
In the previously mentioned areas that have supposedly made requests, it should be noted that the majority of the ethnic groups in the area NEVER MADE any such requests. However, el-Rufai, in his devious game of pitching one faith against another, and one ethnic group against another, abused his official position by misusing the powers of office to carry out these questionable creations including the arbitrary and illegal shifting of boundaries and subsequently sought to legitimise these questionable actions through the establishment of a 13-member committee to review the existing chieftaincy system in Kaduna State in 2017.
Based on El Rufai’s personal admission while addressing a group of clerics shortly after the 2023 elections, he admitted that while in office, he had deceived members of his political party from Southern Kaduna into believing they were united and had equal opportunities within the party, meanwhile his main agenda within the state was to promote a Muslim–Muslim ticket in governance, which was implemented in 2019.
El-Rufai’s morally and politically debased mind is common knowledge. We have thought that, having earned so much unmerited and unjustified reward from Kaduna State resources for his unquestioning loyalty to the despot, Muyiwa Adekeye would now be realistic towards the victims of El-Rufai’s orchestrated and planned maladministration against a harmless people.
Given his pathetic inability to do so, Muyiwa Adekeye must be made to understand in unmistakable terms: The unflattering description which he ascribes to Professor Chidi Odinkalu perfectly fits him – Muyiwa.
In retrospect, we will never forget the myriad of wrongdoings inflicted by El-rufa’i in Southern Kaduna, where he exhibited highly devious, vindictive, and manipulative tendencies and actions. Some of his infamous actions against the people of Southern Kaduna are as follows:
1. El-Rufai’s admission in a viral video that he deliberately pitched Christians against Muslims, and one ethnic group against another.
2. The creation of Emirates in areas that are multi religious and multi ethnic, while using his purported Chieftaincy Law reforms to legitimize his actions which were not implemented statewide.
3. The change in nomenclature, arbitrary deposition of chiefs, murder of paramount rulers in curious circumstances with perpetrators yet to be brought to book.
4. The arbitrary boundaries, and jurisdiction of the chiefdoms in Southern Kaduna, especially the reduction of districts from 390 to just 77 across the state. Consequently, this has rendered traditional institutions in the state ineffective in monitoring and reporting cases of insecurity, particularly due to the large land sizes of the new districts in Southern Kaduna.
5. El-Rufai’s new Kaduna State Traditional Institution Law, 2021, through which most of the chiefs of Southern Kaduna were re-graded or demoted and placed in perpetual fear, making their authority questionable.
6. The profiling of Southern Kaduna youths as criminals and arbitrary closure of tertiary institutions in Southern Kaduna while other campuses outside of the region continue their studies for many months. A situation that destabilized academic calendars till date.
7. El-Rufai’s lopsided and lopsided and non-inclusive policies that sidelined the people of Southern Kaduna and mass retrenchment of their top civil servants.
8. El-Rufai’s consistent, reckless, and insensitive utterances, laden with falsehood, insults, and denigration of the elders, leaders, and people of Southern Kaduna.
9. Unjust and oppressive curfews that literally crippled the economy of Southern Kaduna.
10. During the banditry attacks and crises, the government led by El-Rufai did not establish or provide for any IDP camp in Southern Kaduna.
11. The arbitrary and deliberate misuse of official power to encroach illegally on the Federal Government’s exclusive responsibilities by altering the Local Government boundaries, as seen in the case of moving Ladduga from Ikulu Chiefdom in Zangon Kataf Local Government Area to the Adara Chiefdom in Kachia Local Government Area, and (ii) illegally increasing the size of Kachia Grazing Reserve from 33,400 hectares to 77,00 hectares thus arbitrarily confiscating the ancestral lands Kajuru, Kachia, Kauru and Zangon Kataf Local Governments without recourse to the people or Federal government.
12. The illegal, arbitrary, unprovoked, senseless, power-drunk incarceration of the Adara leaders, some of the SOKAPU leaders, suspension and dethronement of Southern Kaduna traditional rulers, etc.
From the foregoing, the Southern Kaduna Leadership Council invites the public to NOTE as follows:
1. That Muyiwa Adekeye has not been truthful in his write-up and has only played to the gallery in the service of his paymaster.
2. That Muyiwa has done and continues to do grievous harm to the people of Southern Kaduna by his continuous falsehood on issues concerning us.
3. That Prof. Chidi Odinkalu’s write-up and support against the ill-treatment of Southern Kaduna by El-Rufai is correct and we are to this effect grateful for the civic and justice duty he has rendered.
4. That El-Rufai’s viral video clip is a confession of a psychopath to the people of Southern Kaduna, Kaduna State and Nigeria.
5. The people of Southern Kaduna have suffered injuries due to a deliberate and systematic deprivation of their rights and privileges through the misuse of office by El-Rufai during his time as governor.
6. El-Rufai deliberately sought to change the demographics of southern Kaduna by orchestrating the banditry, displacing our people from their ancestral lands thereby allowing foreigners to come and take possession of the land. No wonder he said in 20 years’ time we will be irrelevant.
Consequently we call on the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria to accede to our demands and direct the appropriate law enforcement and judicial authorities to act as follows:
a. That Ahmad Nasir El-Rufai be interrogated and made to face a judicial inquiry for his actions/inactions while in office.
b. Take action since the Federal High Court has found Nasir El-Rufai guilty of gross and deliberate abuse of office and power and ensure that Nasir Ahmad El-Rufai be banned for life from politics and from holding public office due to his contravention of the Nigerian Constitution, which guarantees fundamental human rights, including freedom of speech, thought, conscience and religion.
c. We demand that the DSS and other relevant law enforcement agencies investigate the individuals to whom El-Rufai paid state funds to prevent them from killing the people of Southern Kaduna, and his relationship with these individuals be unraveled. The genocide meted on our people during his reign needs to be interrogated with the view to unraveling his role in aiding and abetting grievous and egregious crimes against humanity.
d. We also demand that, for justice to be served and the souls of the unjustly departed to rest in peace, El-Rufai should be made to face the full wrath of the law if found guilty.
We further demand as follows:
1. The current Government of Kaduna State, which has begun to address some of the wrongs committed by El-Rufai’s administration, should urgently consider repealing the objectionable Kaduna State Traditional Institution Law, 2021, enacted by El-Rufai’s government, and revert traditional institutions in the state to their 2015 status quo.
2. Review all policies, laws and programmes that are non-inclusive to ensure they reflect the diverse nature of the state.
3. We recognize and appreciate the efforts thus far by His Excellency, Sen. Uba Sani, towards creating a more inclusive government and the support seen towards the establishment of the Federal University of Applied Science Kachia, the Federal Medical Centre Kafanchan, and other federal institutions in Southern Kaduna.
We believe that His Excellency will achieve much more in transforming the state into an enviable haven for the people if he runs an inclusive government.
CONCLUSION:
In conclusion the Leadership Council wish to use this medium to express our gratitude to the President, Sen. Bola Ahmed Tinubu GCFR, for his inclusive governance from which Southern Kaduna has begun to feel the presence of government.
Long live Southern Kaduna
Long live Kaduna State
Long live the Federal Republic of Nigeria
E-Signed:
Timothy B. Gandu
Secretary,
Southern Kaduna Leadership Council
(SKLC)
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