WED SEPT 09 2026-theGBJournal| The Nigerian Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs (NSCIA) has raised concerns over what it described as possible religious bias in the ongoing prosecution of former Kaduna State Governor Nasir El-Rufai, urging the Federal Government and the judiciary to ensure that justice is done and seen to be done.
In a statement signed by its Secretary-General, Prof. Is-haq Oloyede, the council said it had deliberately refrained from commenting on the controversy surrounding El-Rufai’s prosecution because it regarded the matter as a standard judicial process and trusted the judiciary’s capacity to uphold justice.
The council, however, said recent developments in the public domain had raised “serious concerns” suggesting what it described as “an extraneous involvement of an underlying religious bias” against the former governor.
The intervention marks a significant shift in the council’s position, as it moves from observing the judicial process to publicly warning against the possibility that religious interests could be influencing the use of state institutions.
The NSCIA called on the Federal Government and the judiciary to ensure that individuals with vested religious interests were prevented from “weaponizing public institutions or the legal system” to pursue what it described as a sectarian agenda against El-Rufai.
The council also appealed to members of the public to refrain from making incendiary comments that could prejudice El-Rufai’s right to a fair trial or aggravate Nigeria’s already sensitive security environment.
The statement, titled “El-Rufai: Justice Should Be Seen Done!”, did not call for the termination of the prosecution or seek to determine the former governor’s guilt or innocence.
Rather, the council’s central argument was that the judicial process must remain demonstrably impartial and insulated from religious or sectarian influence.
Its intervention also carries a broader warning about the potential consequences of allowing a politically sensitive prosecution to acquire a religious dimension in a country where disputes involving faith and politics can quickly become wider social and security issues.
The NSCIA concluded its statement with a prayer for peace, stability and security in Nigeria.
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