Former Kaduna State Governor Nasir El-Rufai has moved to take legal action against the Minister of Defence, General Christopher Musa (retd.), demanding N10 billion in compensation over alleged defamatory remarks made during a television interview.
The development followed Musa’s appearance on Channels Television’s Politics Today on September 3, 2026, where the Defence Minister made several allegations about El-Rufai’s administration and its handling of insecurity and communal tensions in Kaduna State.
During the interview, Musa accused the former governor of deepening divisions in Kaduna, particularly between communities in Southern and Northern Kaduna. He said, “El-Rufai did a lot of terrible things in Kaduna State. He divided the state into two.”
Musa further alleged that El-Rufai deliberately planned the killing of people in Southern Kaduna and referenced previous statements he attributed to the former governor concerning bandits and ransom payments. “We can never be happy with somebody who deliberately planned for the killing of our people,” Musa said during the programme.
El-Rufai has rejected the allegations through his legal representatives, who issued a letter before action dated September 7. According to the letter, the statements were defamatory and had caused serious damage to the former governor’s reputation.
His lawyers are demanding N10 billion in compensation, alongside a full retraction and an unreserved public apology. They also requested the preservation of recordings, transcripts and other materials connected to the broadcast.
The former governor’s family has separately given Musa seven days to provide evidence supporting the allegation that El-Rufai planned killings in Southern Kaduna or publicly retract and apologise for the claim.
“In the absence of such evidence, we call on him to publicly retract the allegation through the same medium on which it was made,” the family said.
The legal threat adds another major political and legal confrontation involving the former Kaduna governor, who has recently been involved in other legal proceedings, including a separate N10 billion fundamental rights suit against the ICPC over alleged denial of access to his family while in custody.
Musa’s remarks have also generated public debate, with supporters and critics offering competing interpretations of his comments and El-Rufai’s record as Kaduna governor.
For now, the dispute has moved beyond political criticism, with El-Rufai’s legal team giving the Defence Minister a defined timeline to respond before further legal steps are considered.
