Kaduna State Governor, Nasir El-Rufai, has clarified the statement he made about killing any foreign body that meddles in Nigeria’s elections.
Mr El-Rufai had on Tuesday in a late-night TV programme said that anyone who is sent to the country from the international community to interfere in the nation’s affairs would return in a body bag.
The governor has come under intense criticism over the comment.
The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) had also threatened to withdraw from a peace accord it signed alongside other political parties.
In a statement on Wednesday by his spokesperson, Samuel Aruwan, the governor said: “When Malam Nasir El-Rufai appeared on NTA’s Tuesday Night Live, he made comments every patriot can understand. He stood up for Nigeria’s dignity in the wake of those who would traduce their country and reduce it to the status of a colony in their vain quest for power.
“The video of his comments is in circulation. Any fair-minded person with modest familiarity with the English language and unimpaired comprehension can understand it. It does not contain any call for violence. What it is a powerful defence of sovereignty. Are some sections of our political class implying that they will acquiesce in or collaborate with foreign intervention in our country?
“Affirming that a country will defend itself against needless intervention is the kind of statement you expect to hear from a patriot. It is not a call for violence. Warning about the consequences of meddling in another country’s affairs is legitimate.
“Malam Nasir El-Rufai has stood firmly against those who have been trying to divide Nigerians on ethnic and religious lines. He is resolutely opposed to violence, and firmly committed to peace and harmony.”
