Kenneth Okonkwo, a leader of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), says the ongoing legal issues of former Kaduna governor Nasir El-Rufai are mainly because he joined the ADC.
Okonkwo, who is both a lawyer and politician, claimed that the administration of President Bola Tinubu is targeting El-Rufai using government agencies. He described El-Rufai’s detention as a clear violation of his constitutional rights and said he is being persecuted due to his political affiliation.
He also criticized the practice of holding suspects indefinitely while investigations are ongoing, calling it unconstitutional. Okonkwo stressed that if El-Rufai committed any crime, he should be brought to trial and granted bail. Arrests, he said, should happen only after investigations are complete, and it is the responsibility of the prosecution to prove guilt, not the suspect to prove innocence.
El-Rufai was first detained on February 16 after responding to an invitation from the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC). He was released two days later but was re-arrested by the Department of State Services (DSS), who handed him over to the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC), where he has remained in custody.
Earlier, on February 12, ICPC had attempted to arrest El-Rufai at Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport (NAIA) in Abuja when he returned from Cairo, Egypt, but failed.
