CAN cautions El-Rufai over unguarded comments

The Kaduna state chapter of the Christian Association of Nigeria, CAN, has cautioned Kaduna State governor, Nasir El-Rufai, over what it described as unguarded and unverified comments made by the governor in a recent interview with Channels TV. According to Leadership, El-Rufai, in the interview said that Muslims make up 70% of the population in the state and Christians 30%.

 He said this while speaking on the controversial Religious Regulatory Bill he has sent to the state house of assembly.

Describing his comments as an unverified one that can further divide the state along religious lines, the Secretary of CAN in Kaduna State, Rev. Sunday Ibrahim, ‎who spoke to journalists in Kaduna state yesterday April 6th, said

“It is very surprising to hear that coming out from the Governor. What I know is that there are data that could be made available to whoever that cares to see. We are very surprised that a leader could come out to say what he says because the Christian and Muslim population is about 50/50. Some data show that Christians are 55 per cent and Muslim are 45 per cent in terms of population. We are surprised that the governor could come out to say Muslims have 70 per cent population of Kaduna State while Christians have 30 per cent. He should have verified his fact before coming out to make the statement on a national television. We stand to say no to that very pronouncement from the governor. We don’t accept that to be true. The statement by the governor has the tendency of further dividing the State along religious line. Such statements could bring ignite problems in the State. As a governor he should try to verify issue that are very sensitive before voicing it out to the public,” he said