Hadiza Isma El-Rufai, wife of former Kaduna State governor Nasir El-Rufai, has said she did not anticipate entering a polygamous marriage when she got married, noting that she came from a monogamous background. Mrs El-Rufai disclosed this in a post on her X handle while reacting to an online debate on polygamy, stating, “When we agreed to get married, I envisaged a monogamous marriage, even though the subject was never discussed,” despite her husband being “raised in a polygamous family.” She said the marriage later became polygamous after her husband married additional wives, Asia Ahmad El-Rufai and Aisha Ummi Garba El-Rufai.
Explaining her decision to remain in the marriage, Mrs El-Rufai said the transition was “not by choice initially,” adding that “deciding to remain in the marriage was my choice and nobody else’s.” She noted that under Islamic law, a woman has the right to leave a marriage through Khul, which involves returning the dowry, saying, “under that law, a woman reserves the right to opt out of a marriage, even without giving a reason.” While acknowledging the challenges, she said she chose to “look at the good side of things,” adding that polygamy could offer some practical benefits for first wives, though she argued that for men, “apart from one thing, I cannot think of any advantage of polygamy for a man,” identifying sex as that key factor.