We’re not asking Tinubu to stop El-Rufai’s trial — Wife seeks protection, fair hearing

The wife of former Kaduna State governor, Nasir El-Rufai, Asiya El-Rufai, has appealed to President Bola Tinubu to ensure her husband enjoys his constitutional rights while standing trial, insisting that the family is not seeking to halt the criminal proceedings against him.

Speaking during an interview on ARISE NEWS on Wednesday, she said the family’s appeal was limited to ensuring that El-Rufai receives fair treatment under the law, including access to medical care, legal representation, family visits and bail where applicable.

The appeal follows the controversy surrounding El-Rufai’s prosecution over allegations of unlawfully intercepting the telephone communications of National Security Adviser, Nuhu Ribadu, as well as concerns over his health and the recent arrest of his personal physician.

“Mallam has been accused of offenses in different courts, and those charges are clearly bailable offenses under the Nigerian law,” she said.

She explained that although El-Rufai had repeatedly applied for bail, the conditions attached to the approvals had made his release difficult.

“In the High Court, he was denied bail. In the Federal High Court, he was granted bail with terms that are not viable. In the Federal High Court sitting in Kaduna, Justice Ekwo granted him bail for two sureties, N200 million each, with property worth N200 million in GRA Kaduna. He also said that the Traditional Council of Kaduna State must give attestation. Now, efforts to get this became impossible. The Traditional Council would not give that attestation.

“So we’re appealing to the President just to tell them to allow the law to take its course. Give him fair hearing. Allow the courts to be the arbiters,” she stated.

Asiya questioned why her husband was being treated as a flight risk despite previously complying with court processes after being granted bail by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

“After he left the office of the minister, the EFCC actually gave him bail on his self-recognizance, and the trial went on. He was there at every sitting, and he was vindicated. So, I honestly don’t know where this fear of giving him bail is coming from,” she said.

While declining to directly accuse the judiciary of bias, she suggested that political considerations may be influencing the opposition to his bail applications.

“I don’t want to speculate, but as a Nigerian, as a human being, I don’t think it is wrong if I say there must be some politics going on. I can speak about the agencies—they are the ones that took him to court. They’re the ones that oppose the bails. They’re the ones that, you know, say that this guy is a flight risk,” she added.

On El-Rufai’s health, she disclosed that authorities had allowed him to visit eye clinics for glaucoma treatment but had denied him access to his longtime personal physician, Professor Bello.

“They’ve now arrested him. Professor Bello has been Mallam’s doctor since Mallam was DG, BPE,” she said.

Asiya also rejected claims that El-Rufai used a recent hospital visit to hold political meetings, insisting that the outing was strictly for medical treatment and conducted in line with a court order granting him access to healthcare.

“There’s no court directive, sir. The court directive was very clear: he should have unfettered access to health care. The ICPC is interpreting the order too narrowly,” she said.

According to her, the family had requested a 5 p.m. hospital appointment to avoid crowds, but the visit was rescheduled by authorities to a busier morning period.

“Mallam was sitting in the reception. There were people already there. Mallam is a prominent person, people come to greet him. And so, if in the process, something went wrong, people that they didn’t want to see happen to be there, how do you blame him?” she asked.

She further expressed concern over the arrest of Professor Bello, warning that criminalising medical professionals for carrying out their duties could discourage doctors from offering independent medical opinions.

“The fact that we are weaponizing healthcare. If doctors become afraid to offer opinions, what does it say? It’s not about Nasir El-Rufai anymore. It’s about the fact that professionals are being muzzled… This is one example of what will make somebody leave,” she said.

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