Ex-governor Nasir El-Rufai's son, Bashir El-Rufai, has said northern leaders are the reason why people think northerners are a very stupid set of citizens.

This came after news surfaced that the Kebbi State Government is planning to take a N10 billion loan to sponsor Hajj pilgrims.

The Executive Chairman of the Kebbi State Pilgrims Welfare Agency, Alhaji Faruku Aliyu Yaro, disclosed this on Saturday, saying the decision followed the inability of many intending pilgrims in the state to meet the payment deadline.

According to him, the National Hajj Commission of Nigeria officially closed the sale of Hajj seats on December 6, 2025. To prevent the loss of the state’s remaining slots, the governor approved the release of N10 billion to enable the agency to procure over 1,000 additional Hajj seats for intending pilgrims.

Yaro said that before the intervention, only about 2,000 intending pilgrims had completed their payments, which fell short of the number Kebbi State usually registers annually.

He explained that the decline in the number of pilgrims was largely due to the crash in food crop prices, noting that about 60 per cent of Kebbi’s intending pilgrims are farmers who rely on proceeds from farm produce sales to pay for Hajj seats, while others are civil servants and business people.

“With the N10 billion support, we have opened a new window for more intending pilgrims to procure their Hajj seats through the agency. We appreciate the governor’s kind gesture, as it will go a long way in helping us meet our target,” he said.

Reacting, Bashir El-Rufai shared on X, "The Kebbi State Government just approved 10,000,000,000 (10BN) solely for the sponsorship & assistance for Hajj Pilgrimage activities. Again, and we wonder why these guys think we are a very stupid set of citizens in the North."


ASA