Phrank Shaibu, the Senior Special Assistant on Public Communication to the African Democratic Congress, ADC, presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar has described the former Kaduna State governor, Nasir El-Rufai as a political prisoner of conscience.
Shaibu charged President Bola Tinubu to release El-Rufai if he poses no threat to him in the 2027 election.
He made the call during an interview on Arise Television’s News Insight.
El-Rufai was initially arrested and detained by the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission, ICPC on February 18, 2026.
He was detained by ICPC officials following investigations of fraud during his tenure as governor from 2015 to 2023.
The former governor faced multiple additional charges, re-arrests and remands by both the ICPC and the Department of State Services, DSS, regarding corruption, contract fraud, cybercrime, and phone-tapping allegations involving the National Security Adviser, NSA, Nuhu Ribadu.
On May 18, the Federal High Court in Abuja granted El-Rufai a N100 million bail, in the case filed by the DSS.
Justice Joyce Abdulmalik presided over the case regarding allegations that El-Rufai breached the NSA by publicly stating that he wiretapped Ribadu’s phone.
However, Shaibu described the bail conditions given to El-Rufai as stringent.
According to Shaibu: “El-Rufai is a political prisoner of conscience, the courts granted him bail, weeks rolling into months and they gave impossible conditions to his release.
“We call it impossible because for whatever perceived offence they claimed he has committed, he deserves his freedom. A man is presumed guilty after he has been tried.
“If you say that there is a bail, the conditions are not just stringent but out of this world and that’s why we call them impossible conditions
“If you guys truly believe El-Rufai poses no threat to Tinubu’s electoral quest, then release him.
“Let him test his strength in the open, and let Nigerians decide at the ballot who has the capacity to earn their mandate. If you are so confident, why keep a political rival off the field?”
2027: El-Rufai political prisoner, release him if he poses no threat – Atiku’s aide to Tinubu