“FG Plans To Keep el-Rufai In Detention Until After 2027 Polls” – ADC

The African Democratic Congress (ADC) says the federal government is deliberately detaining Nasir el-Rufai, former governor of Kaduna, and has no intention of releasing him until after the 2027 general election.

Speaking on Thursday during his appearance on Channels Television’s Politics Today, Bolaji Abdullahi, ADC spokesperson, said the continued detention of the former Kaduna governor by the All Progressives Congress (APC)-led government is intended to weaken the opposition ahead of the upcoming general election.

“Let me establish the principle that ADC is not opposed to anybody who has a legitimate case to answer from being prosecuted,” he said.

“But when you are holding someone in custody for bailable offences, and you proceed to continue to arraign that person and continue to set conditions for bail that are almost impossible for this person to meet, it creates room for us to believe that you deliberately intend to hold this person in perpetuity, and you are just looking for legal loopholes to hold this person.

“The thinking within the ADC is that the APC government has concluded that they will not release Malam Nasir el-Rufai until after the elections. That is what we believe.

“That is the plan, and that is what they plan to do because they know that with Malam Nasir el-Rufai freed, the opposition is stronger, and they know that if they release him, he is going to remind them of certain things that they would rather forget.

“So that is why they want to hold him in perpetuity. And I am telling you that we in the opposition believe that they are doing everything to make sure that Malam Nasir el-Rufai remains in custody until after the elections.”

The ADC spokesperson raised concerns over el-Rufai’s health, saying the former governor requires urgent medical attention.

“According to the report we got from the family, he was at the national hospital a few days ago, and the hospital advised that he should be kept under watch because his health was failing,” Abdullahi said.

Abdullahi warned that the opposition would hold President Bola Tinubu responsible if anything happened to the former governor, who has been in custody since February.

“There is a political prisoner in Nigeria today, and his name is Malam Nasir el-Rufai,” Abdullahi said.

The Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) is prosecuting el-Rufai on separate criminal charges before the Kaduna high court and the federal high court in Kaduna.

At the Kaduna high court, el-Rufai’s bail applications had been repeatedly dismissed.

The Department of State Services (DSS) is also prosecuting the former governor before the federal high court in Abuja over allegations of wiretapping.

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