Reported by: Ijeoma G | Edited by: Oravbiere Osayomore Promise.
A non-governmental advocacy group, the Citizens Support for Good Governance, has called for a comprehensive, independent, and impartial probe into allegations of killings, human rights abuses, financial recklessness, and insecurity during the eight-year tenure of former Kaduna State Governor, Mallam Nasir El-Rufai. The group demanded that relevant Nigerian security agencies, anti-graft bodies, and international organisations conduct a transparent inquiry into the administration, which spanned between 2015 and 2023. In a press statement issued on Thursday, September 10, 2026, and signed by its Director of Media and Public Communications, Victor Mathew Bobai, CSGG noted that serious questions regarding communal massacres, state-backed rights violations, and financial infractions must not be swept under the carpet. “Serious allegations should not simply be swept under the carpet,” the statement read. “If allegations are false, exaggerated or unsupported by evidence, a credible investigation will provide an opportunity for those accused to be cleared. If credible evidence establishes wrongdoing, then the appropriate legal institutions should act strictly in accordance with the law.”
The group’s intervention comes amid renewed public attention to the controversies that defined El-Rufai’s tenure, sparked in part by explosive allegations by the Minister of Defence, General Christopher Musa (retd.), who accused the former governor of deliberately planning the killings in Southern Kaduna. The Minister’s comments, made during an interview on Channels Television on September 3, 2026, drew a swift response from El-Rufai’s legal team, which demanded an unconditional apology and threatened defamation proceedings. But civil society groups have insisted that the gravity of the accusations requires transparent investigation rather than legal manoeuvring or political intimidation. The Communal Responsibility and Civic Minded Foundation, which made a similar call on Thursday in Abuja, argued that as a native of Southern Kaduna and a former Chief of Defence Staff, General Musa speaks from decades of first-hand military intelligence and lived experience. “What Nigeria does not need is intimidation, inflammatory rhetoric, or the weaponisation of political differences,” the foundation’s Godwin Erheriene said.
CSGG outlined key areas requiring thorough forensic investigation, including persistent armed attacks and mass killings in Southern Kaduna, government handling of intelligence reports, and the December 2015 Zaria massacre involving the Nigerian Army and members of the Islamic Movement in Nigeria. The organisation noted that official judicial records documented mass burials following the Zaria clash, demanding full disclosure on the identities of victims, the roles played by government actors, and whether recommendations of previous panels were implemented. The group also urged anti-graft agencies and courts to adjudicate financial allegations arising from the 2024 Kaduna State House of Assembly probe, which exposed multi-billion-naira financial infractions, loans, contracts, and project implementation during El-Rufai’s governance. The Assembly’s ad-hoc committee had accused the administration of siphoning over N423 billion in state funds, unapproved borrowing, and questionable contract awards. “An allegation by a legislative committee is not a criminal conviction,” CSGG asserted. “Every allegation must be tested according to the law, and every accused person is entitled to fair hearing. The existence of an allegation or a charge does not amount to guilt. The courts must be allowed to determine cases based on evidence and the law.”
The Middle Belt Forum, which has been at the forefront of demands for accountability, has gone further, calling for an independent investigation into allegations of payments to bandits or other armed groups during El-Rufai’s administration. The forum’s National Spokesman, Luka Binniyat, said the group wanted a review of unresolved cases of mass killings in Southern Kaduna, including the circumstances surrounding the kidnapping and murder of Agwom Adara, Dr. Raphael Maiwada Galadima, in October 2018. The MBF also demanded a proper investigation into deaths and injuries associated with controversial demolition exercises under the El-Rufai administration, citing the case of a 62-year-old woman, Mary Audu, who reportedly died in 2016 after receiving a demolition notice for her home in Gbagyi Villa, and another woman, Sarah, who reportedly collapsed and died during a demolition exercise in May 2023. The forum argued that development cannot be measured only by buildings demolished and roads constructed, but also by the lives protected and the dignity of the people preserved.
The backdrop to these demands is El-Rufai’s ongoing detention, which has now stretched beyond 200 days. The former governor has been in custody since February 2026, facing multiple inter-agency prosecutions over allegations bordering on financial misconduct and the unlawful interception of telephone communications of the National Security Adviser, Nuhu Ribadu. He was initially detained by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission after honouring an invitation on February 16, 2026, before being transferred to the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission, which filed a 10-count charge against him. The Department of State Services also filed a separate criminal case over the alleged wiretapping. El-Rufai has repeatedly denied all charges of financial mismanagement and human rights infractions, and his family has filed a fresh N10 billion fundamental rights suit against the ICPC over alleged restrictions on access to him. His legal team has argued that the bail conditions imposed on him were impossibly stringent and designed to keep him in detention indefinitely.
Addressing potential political undertones in the calls for investigation, CSGG stated that its demand was aimed at establishing historical accountability and delivering justice to victims rather than engaging in political witch-hunts or targeted persecution. “We are not calling for anybody to be condemned without evidence,” the statement added. “We are calling for an investigation because serious allegations and unresolved questions exist. The people of Kaduna deserve answers. Silence, political arguments and media exchanges cannot replace a credible process for establishing facts and ensuring justice.” The group appealed to the National Assembly, the National Human Rights Commission, law enforcement agencies, the Economic Community of West African States, Amnesty International, and United Nations human rights mechanisms to support a lawful and transparent inquiry.
The competing narratives surrounding El-Rufai’s legacy have turned Kaduna State into a battleground of historical memory, where the quest for accountability collides with the political interests of the present. On one side are those who see the former governor as a reformer who transformed Kaduna’s infrastructure and challenged entrenched interests, and who now view the investigations against him as a politically motivated vendetta. On the other are communities in Southern Kaduna and civil society groups who insist that the bloodshed and financial recklessness of his tenure cannot be forgotten or forgiven, and that the pursuit of justice must transcend partisan loyalties. For the people of Kaduna, the demand for an independent probe is not about settling political scores or choosing sides in a partisan dispute. It is about answering a simple but profound question: how can a state move forward without first understanding what happened in its recent past? The answer, CSGG insists, lies in a credible, evidence-based inquiry that holds accountable those found culpable and clears those wrongly accused. Until that happens, the ghosts of El-Rufai’s eight years will continue to haunt Kaduna’s politics, and the victims of its violence will continue to wait for a justice that has yet to arrive.
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