The African Democratic Congress (ADC) has intensified its criticism of the Federal Government over the continued detention of former Kaduna State Governor, Nasir El-Rufai, alleging that the move is aimed at keeping him out of the 2027 general election.
The opposition party also warned that President Bola Tinubu would be held personally responsible if anything happened to the former governor while in custody.
Speaking during an interview on Symfoni TV, the ADC’s National Publicity Secretary, Bolaji Abdullahi, dismissed suggestions that El-Rufai’s detention was strictly a legal matter, insisting it was driven by politics rather than the rule of law.
“This is not about law. It is not about crime and punishment. It is politics,” he said.
Abdullahi argued that if the allegations against the former governor were purely criminal, the courts should be allowed to determine his guilt or innocence without what he described as prolonged detention.
“To continue to hold him indefinitely speaks to something else. It is clear to us that the intention of this APC government is to ensure that Mallam Nasir el-Rufai does not participate in this election and does not strengthen the opposition. That is exactly what they plan to do,” Abdullahi said.
The ADC spokesman linked El-Rufai’s current legal troubles to his political influence, recalling the role he played in President Tinubu’s emergence as the All Progressives Congress (APC) presidential candidate and eventual winner of the 2023 election.
“When some people in the north were insisting that the presidency should remain in the region, it was Mallam Nasir el-Rufai, alongside others, who mobilised the entire north behind President Bola Tinubu,” he said.
Abdullahi said he had also seen videos in which Tinubu appealed to El-Rufai not to leave the country because his administration would require his support, questioning what had changed between then and now.
“So many things have happened that make people begin to wonder about the real forces determining these decisions,” he said.
He further claimed that El-Rufai’s health had deteriorated in detention and urged the President to intervene.
“I’ll repeat it here. If, God forbid, anything happens to Mallam Nasir el-Rufai, President Bola Tinubu should realise, even if he didn’t intend it, that he would be held personally responsible and the consequences cannot even be imagined,” he said.
Abdullahi called on the Federal Government to release the former governor on bail and allow him to defend himself in court.
“It’s either he releases Mallam el-Rufai on bail and allows him to face justice or he continues to hold him until the end of his tenure,” he added.
He also vowed that the ADC would probe the circumstances surrounding El-Rufai’s detention if it won power after the 2027 general election.
“We would come into government. We would investigate what happened and due blames will be apportioned,” Abdullahi said.
El-Rufai is facing multiple criminal proceedings in separate courts.
Before the Federal High Court in Abuja, the Department of State Services (DSS) filed an amended five-count charge accusing him of unlawfully intercepting telephone communications linked to the National Security Adviser, Nuhu Ribadu, and other alleged national security offenses, charges he has denied.
He is also standing trial in Kaduna over an amended 11-count charge filed by the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offenses Commission (ICPC), alongside his former Special Adviser, Jimi Lawal, and several companies, over alleged abuse of office, money laundering, and procurement-related offenses. El-Rufai and the other defendants have pleaded not guilty.
Earlier this month, a Kaduna High Court dismissed El-Rufai’s application for bail after questions were raised over the authenticity of a medical report tendered in support of the application.
His continued detention has attracted reactions from political allies and family members, with his wives previously appealing to President Tinubu to intervene and facilitate his release.
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