Middle Belt Group Cautions Yoruba Monarch on Bestowing Chieftaincy Title to El-Rufai

A group called Middle Belt Patriots has urged the Awujale of Ijebu Kingdom, Ọba Sikiru Kayode Adetona, to avoid association with former Governor Mallam Nasir El-Rufai due to his alleged role in mass genocides in Southern Kaduna.

The group’s General Secretary, Patrick Anun, stated that honoring an individual with such a controversial background may not align with the values and principles that guide the Yoruba traditional institution throughout its rich history.

Also, the group accused El-Rufai of renaming the Gbagyi traditional stool from Sa Gbagyi (Gbagyi ruler) to Etsu Chikun (Chikun Chief), which reduced the influence of the paramount ruler of the entire Gbagyi race to just the Chikun local government area and made the stool open to any resident of Chikun. They also expressed concerns about the potential repercussions for Yoruba communities who have bravely defended their communities against terrorist herdsmen.

Some traditional rulers were arrested and humiliated in jail by El-Rufai in his bid to persecute them, such as Dr. Ishaku S. Damina B’Gwan Kurmi (Chief of Kurama), who was later killed in 2021.

The group respectfully appeals to the Ijebu Kingdom to reconsider its association with Nasir El-Rufai, a man the senate declared “not a fit and proper person to hold public office in a democratic setup” a decade ago.