LATE CHIEF AUDU OGBEH CONVINCED EL-RUFAI TO SPARE ABUJA CATHOLIC CHURCH FROM DEMOLITION

Former Kaduna State Governor Mallam Nasir El-Rufai has revealed how late Chief Audu Ogbeh successfully persuaded him to spare a Catholic church in Asokoro, Abuja, from demolition during his tenure as Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Minister. The church, built on a residential plot but located at a busy junction causing traffic issues, was marked for demolition as part of El-Rufai’s efforts to restore Abuja’s master plan.

“I didn’t care what it was. If it violated the master plan, it had to go,” El-Rufai stated in a Symfoni TV interview, describing himself as “an equal opportunity demolisher”. Initial pleas from senior Abuja Catholic officials failed to sway him. “Look, I’m here to restore the Abuja master plan… This church blocks traffic every Sunday. It inconveniences residents. My job is to remove that inconvenience,” he told them.

The turning point came when Chief Audu Ogbeh joined the delegation. “The next time they came back, they came back with Chief Audu,” El-Rufai recalled. Ogbeh acknowledged the traffic issue but framed it differently: “Look, you are right. This building inconveniences people once a week. Is that inconvenience not worth praying to God for Abuja Abuja, for Nigeria, for humanity?” El-Rufai said Ogbeh’s argument proved persuasive; he decided against demolition. “That building was spared because of him. And I want to say here now, anybody that thought that that building survived for any other reason, it did not. It was because of Chief Audu Ogbeh,” El-Rufai concluded.