Former Kaduna State Governor, Nasir El-Rufai, on Sunday said he is hated and perceived a “fundamentalist” by Southern Kaduna Christians because he “dealt with them” and refused to tolerate their nonsense.

Mr El-Rufai, in an interview with Channels TV on Sunday, made this statement when asked about how he was perceived by the Southern Kaduna people.

He said, “They can think what they think. I don’t tolerate nonsense; governance is not a joke. 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.”

The former Kaduna State governor further said he dealt with South Kaduna people just like he did with Ibrahim Elzakzaky and his followers who are Muslims like him.

He stated, “There are people in Southern Kaduna that feel entitled to behave in a certain way, I dealt with them. Just like the IMN, El-Zakzaky’s people who thought they could do what they want and get away with it, I dealt with them. El-Zakzaky’s people are Muslims like me. But I don’t take any nonsense from them.’’

Mr El-Rufai said he stopped funding medical bills of some leaders from South Kaduna just like he stopped sponsoring pilgrimage and other activities gulping state’s resources.

“There are people, some entitled Southern Kaduna leaders, who are used to getting money from the government every month. They are used to getting $20,000 every month for medical check-up, so I stopped it. Just as I stopped funding pilgrimage and other things I felt were a waste of government resources,” Mr El-Rufai said.