El - Rufai defends choice of Muslim as running mate

Kaduna State Governor, Nasir el-Rufai, on Tuesday defended his choice of Dr. Hadiza Balarabe, a fellow Muslim, as his running mate for the 2019 governorship election in the state.

The governor said while receiving the people of Sanga Local Government Area at the Kaduna State government House, on a thank-you visit for picking their daughter, the choice of his running mate was based on competence and performance rather than sentiments, adding that his administration has no room for religious sentiments in deciding who to appoint into any office in the state.

“Muslim-Muslim ticket is not a religious ticket but a competent and performance ticket,” the governor said.

El-Rufai, who maintained that the Government House was not a place for worship but where people work, added that most of his Muslim-Muslim ticket critics were those who did not vote for him in the 2015 governorship election in the state.

“The people that have criticised me most on this are people who never voted me in the first place. So, are they not supposed to be celebrating it?

Earlier, the paramount ruler of Numana in Sanga LG where Dr. Hadiza Balarabe hails from, Brigadier-General Aliyu Yamma (Rtd), said the choice of their daughter had given them the hope of being in government.

“We now feel a sense of belonging in Kaduna government. We are just like Black Americans in Kaduna State,” he said.