The African Democratic Party (ADC) has stated that the embattled former governor of Kaduna State, Nasir el-Rufa’i, might not be released until after the 2027 elections.
According to reports, the party’s National Publicity Secretary, Bolaji Abdullahi, who stated this during an appearance on television on Thursday, accused the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) of being behind el-Rufa’i’s continued detention.
“And I say let me establish the principle that ADC is not opposed to anybody who has a legitimate case to answer, from being prosecuted, 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.
“What I can tell you is that 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’s what we believe in”, he said.
“That is the plan, and that’s what they plan to do; because they know that with Nasir el-Rufa’i 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. And I’m telling you that we, in the opposition, believe that they are doing everything to make sure that Nasir el-Rufa’i remains in custody until after the elections”, Abdullahi said.
Lamenting el-Rufa’i’s health condition, the ADC spokesperson said that the President would be held responsible “if anything happens” to the former Kaduna governor.
“And Atiku Abubakar, our presidential candidate, has said it. If anything happens to Nasir el-Rufa’i in detention, President Bola Tinubu will be held personally responsible, because the buck stops on the table. And we say that there is a political prisoner in Nigeria today; his name is Nasir el-Rufa’i”, he said.
Abdullahi further said that every case against the ADC was orchestrated to make Nigerians not have a choice in the 2027 general election.
