The Travails Of El-Rufai And The Renewed Onslaught Against Opposition -By Hajia Hadiza Mohammed

It is no longer news that Mallam Nasir El-Rufai, a chieftain of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), is having a raw deal in the hands of the Nigerian security operatives right now. El-Rufai travail began on February 12 at Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja where he was accosted by security operatives and had his international passport seized upon his return to Nigeria from Egypt. Shortly after, he was arrested by the operatives of the Economic and Financial Crime Commission (EFCC) on the allegation of corruption and fraud to the tune of N440 billion allegedly committed between the 2015 and 2023 during the time he was governor of Kaduna State. By Wednesday evening after he had spent over 48 hours in the EFCC cell, he was released but was immediately re-arrested by the Officials of the Independent Corrupt Practices Commission (ICPC). As he is being detained, his house has been invaded and ransacked by the operatives of the Department for State Services (DSS). Mallam El-Rufai is being charged for cyber security offences by the DSS over his interview in Arise TV program wherein he said that he and others still at large intercepted the telephone of the National Security Adviser (NSA), Mr. Nuhu Ribadu.

Just like many Nigerians, I have no sympathy for El-Rufai on account of his travails because he was one of those that foist the current evil regime on us before he fell out with his Lagos-boy’s friend. He was Tinubu’s honcho man who had threatened foreign election observers with body bags during the last election. He was Tinubu’s chief spokesman at the Chatham House charade in London in 2022. But this is not the purpose of this essay. The purpose is to highlight the dangerous trend of persecuting members of the opposition as the build up to 2007 election begins.

Since grabbing power in 2023, Tinubu and his men have wasted the resources of the state fighting to suppress civil advocacy and opposition. Propaganda, lies and rumors were unleased through media hirelings with the aim of hoodwinking members of the public. And now they have moved to the next level of using state security apparatus to hound and distract members of the opposition. All these I have highlighted in my earlier articles.

El-Rufai left office almost 3 years ago. Why will it take them that long to discover the alleged fraud and arraign him? If El-Rufai is still in All Progressives Congress (APC), will he be arraigned? Late last year, Dr. Chris Nwabueze Ngige, the former minister of Labor and Employment and one-time governor of Anambra State was arrested and arraigned by the EFCC on 8-count charge of conspiracy and fraud to the tune N2.2 billion.

Again, Abubakar Malami the former Attorney General of the Federation (AGF) and Minister of Justice together with his son Abubakar Abdulaziz Malami are being hounded on charge bordering on conspiracy and laundering proceeds from unlawful activities using proxies to conceal the origin of funds, acquiring properties in Abuja, Kano and Kebbi states and holding 46 bank accounts. They are also being charged for abetting terrorism financing, failing to prosecute suspect terrorism financiers and illegal storing of fire arms in his Kebbi residence.

I am not against the prosecution of offenders especially those that have abused public trust but I am strongly opposed to elective justice. A look at these few mentioned here and others are those not “working” for the present regime. The question is: if these men were still in APC working for Tinubu, will they be arrested and arraigned? Sometime in 2023, Alhaji Yaya Bello, the former governor of Kogi State was haunted by the EFCC on a 19-point charges of money laundry and misappropriation of N80.2 billion while in office. But, the moment he decided to be a “good boy”, his case was played down. Now, it is in the news that he is permitted to travel abroad for medical tourism.

There are many others with financial crimes cases that have their charges dropped because they crossed over to the APC or are working for the president. It was the loud-mouthed Adam Oshiomole, the former APC chairman that told us that whenever anyone facing corruption charges crosses over to the APC his sins are forgiven.

Tinubu and his acolyte must know that power is transient. What goes around comes around. Before now, specifically from 1999 till 2 years ago, El-Rufai was one of the strongest political figures in the country, talking tough and acting with impunity. From the position of the Chairman of the Bureau for public Enterprises (BPE) to FCT Minister to the position of the Governor of Kaduna State, Mallam El-Rufai wielded power like an emperor whose words were law, his frail little frame notwithstanding. Today, El-Rufai is on the other side and he is being hounded like a common criminal.

Members of the APC are very short-sighted in their dealings with the opposition. The APC gang thinks that they are winning by using the state apparatus to fight members of the opposition but they are actually destroying the rudiments of democracy; thereby inviting anarchy into the polity. What the APC is doing shows that they have failed the nation. They have no visible achievement in the last three years to campaign with and hence the resort to hounding members of the the opposition but they are actually stoking the fire that may consume them later.

Hajia Hadiza Mohammed 

hajiahadizamohammed@gmail.com

An actress, social activist, politician

London, UK