Women and youths under the aegis of the All Progressives Congress Unity Forum in Kaduna held a rally supporting the ongoing investigation of the embattled former Governor Nasir El-Rufai.

Mr El-Rufai is being investigated over his alleged involvement in wiretapping the national security adviser’s phone lines, as well as financial infractions allegedly committed during his tenure as governor.

Some of the youths and women carried placards with inscriptions such as ‘Tapping NSA phones is criminal’, ‘ICPC, EFCC, save our treasury’, ‘Southern Kaduna people do not support evil’ and ‘ICPC, SSS, carry on’, among others.

Speaking at the rally in Kafanchan, Edward Auta, the forum’s convener, said the ongoing legal processes against Mr El-Rufai will further strengthen transparency and, if convicted, enable the recovery of public resources for the benefit of the people.

“Without a doubt, holding El-Rufa’i accountable will demonstrate clearly that under the leadership of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, there are no sacred cows and no one is above the law,” he stated.

Mr Auta urged authorities to go a step further by investigating Mr El-Rufai’s repeated resort to divisive rhetoric along religious and ethnic lines.

He distanced the forum from a pro-El-Rufai rally held last Wednesday by a group in Southern Kaduna, which claimed solidarity with the former governor.

“No fair-minded person from Southern Kaduna who witnessed the pervasive insecurity, wanton acts of corruption, and deepening polarisation under Elrufa’i’s administration will question the courage of our nation’s anti-graft and security agencies to investigate and interrogate him.

“These agencies are carrying out their constitutional mandate to ensure accountability and to recover public funds allegedly diverted during his tenure as governor,” he said.

According to him, Darius Kurah and his associates, who gathered in Kafanchan on February 25, neither possess the authority to speak on behalf of our people nor reflect the genuine sentiments of the zone.

“Contrary to their claims, the overwhelming majority of our people support the efforts of the ICPC, EFCC, SSS, and all relevant institutions working to ensure that due process is followed and accountability is achieved. Indeed, many believe these actions could have come sooner. Nevertheless, as the saying goes, ‘better late than never’,” he said.

Mr Auta noted with satisfaction that Southern Kaduna had entered a new era of inclusion and purposeful governance under Governor Uba Sani and President Bola Tinubu.

(NAN)