• Threatens legal action
Alex Enumah in Abuja
Embattled former governor of Kaduna State, Mallam Nasir El-Rufai, has demanded the sum of N10 billion as compensation, from the Minister of Defence, General Christopher Musa (Rtd.), over alleged defamatory publication made against his person.
El-Rufai in a letter dated September 7, and signed by his lawyer, Ubong Akpan is also demanding an apology tendered in two national newspapers as well as a retraction of the said defamatory.
Recall that the minister had while appearing as a guest on Channels Television’s Politics Today, on September 3, 2026, made certain statements considered as defamatory by the former governor.
According to the letter, General Musa had among others alleged that el-Rufai “deliberately planned for the killing of our people”, and divided Kaduna State along ethnic and religious lines when he was governor of the state.
The minister was also quoted as saying that the former governor paid ransom to bandits as well as orchestrated the demolition of properties belonging to critics; statements which his lawyer claimed has done serious harm to the reputation of the ex governor.
Akpan, who described the allegations against his client as false submitted that they presented the former governor as “a criminal, a murderer, a sponsor of banditry, and a person of the most base and depraved character.”
The letter while observing that el-Rufai had “never been involved in any offence relating to the deliberate planning of killings in Southern Kaduna,” maintained that “no evidence has ever been produced to establish that our Client ‘deliberately planned the killing of any person.”
“Your statements carry particular weight and credibility in the eyes of the public. By making these allegations from such a position of authority, you have caused substantially greater damage to our Client’s reputation than would have been caused by a private individual”, Akpan said.
“Our Client’s instruction is to demand the sum of #10,000,000,000.00 (Ten Billion Naira) as compensation for the injury to his reputation and the distress and inconvenience occasioned”, he added.
Other demands they are making included a “prominent, unconditional and unambiguous retraction, correction and apology on Politics Today, with the same or greater prominence as the original statements”.
The lawyers further demanded that “the apology be published in two nationally circulating newspapers, one principally circulating in Northern Nigeria and another principally circulating in Southern Nigeria”.
Meanwhile, Musa was giving seven days to fully comply with the demands contained in the letter or face legal action.