Former Kaduna State Governor, Nasir El-Rufai, has accused the Federal Government of orchestrating what he described as an attempted “abduction” at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport in Abuja, alleging that security agencies are being deployed as instruments of political pressure against opposition figures.
Speaking during an interview on ARISE News on Friday, El-Rufai maintained that operatives of the Department of State Services (DSS) attempted to detain him without presenting a warrant shortly after he returned from Cairo, Egypt. He insisted that the action was not connected to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), which he said had previously communicated with him through formal channels.
“It wasn’t the EFCC,” he stated. “It was the DSS. But the DSS were procured to abduct me by the ICPC that has never communicated with me ever.”
Recounting the sequence of events at the airport, El-Rufai said he was approached by a well-dressed man who identified himself as a DSS operative.
“Well, I came out of the plane, and a young man that is well dressed with a nice suit came to me and said, ‘I am from the DSS, Department of State Services. I would like to meet with you in our office.’ I said, ‘That’s fine. Where is the letter of invitation?’ He said, ‘My bosses have it. I will escort you to them.’ I said, ‘I’m going through immigration. Just get me the letter,’” he narrated.
According to him, as he proceeded toward immigration control, additional security operatives emerged.
“Apparently, they had moved about 50 DSS operatives to the airport with the specific instructions that I should be detained, I should be abducted and detained,” he alleged.
El-Rufai said he declined to follow the officers without a formal letter of invitation or warrant.
“They said, ‘We are from the DSS, sir, we are going this way. We need to go to your office.’ I said, ‘I’m not going to your office. I’m not going anywhere until you show me a letter of invitation.’”
He added that he challenged what he described as coercive language.
“I said, ‘Even the president cannot tell me I have to do anything. It’s a free country, it’s a democratic country, and I don’t have to do anything that I do not wish to do. So you are just a middle-level or senior civil servant. The president cannot tell me what to do. Don’t say I have to. It’s inappropriate language.’”
El-Rufai said he proceeded through immigration, had his passport stamped, and exited the airport. However, he alleged that operatives later confronted one of his aides.
“That’s the aide that got beaten up and they seized the passport from him. If I had the passport with me, I would not be talking this,” he claimed.
He expressed concern over what he described as a dangerous precedent for democratic institutions.
“Once people begin to lose confidence in the neutrality of such institutions, we are on our way to anarchy,” he warned.
Clarifying earlier public statements by his legal team, El-Rufai said the EFCC had formally written to him while he was abroad, inviting him for discussions over certain matters. He said his lawyers responded, informing the commission that he was on annual vacation and would indicate his return date.
“We have written to the EFCC to say I will come and see you at 10am on the 16th of February,” he disclosed.
He alleged, however, that the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) was instead behind the airport episode.
“Subsequently, we found out that it was the ICPC that procured the DSS to abduct me and then hand over to them. And this is a modus operandi of the ICPC that increasingly has become a personal tool of Nuhu Ribadu. Nuhu made the call and made the order that I must be in custody yesterday,” he alleged.
When asked how he came by that information, El-Rufai made a controversial remark.
“He made the call because we listened to their calls. The government thinks that they are the only ones that listen to calls. But we also have our ways,” he said.
El-Rufai further stated that the ICPC later delivered a formal letter to his residence inviting him for questioning.
“Yesterday around 5pm, the ICPC finally did the right thing by bringing a letter to my house to say we want to see you on Friday the 13th. My lawyer wrote back to say my client is not an idle person that has no programme. We’ve received your letter. We will honour the invitation. But on Monday we are going to the EFCC that has written before. After the EFCC, we will go to the ICPC.”
He described the investigations as politically motivated, arguing that in established democracies, authorities do not begin investigations with detention.
“In civilised countries, you don’t start investigation by abducting a person or even arresting a person and keeping him while you’re investigating. It’s violation of human rights. You do your investigation,” he said.
When pressed on whether politics was at the heart of the matter, he responded emphatically: “Absolutely.”
El-Rufai claimed that some professionals within the agencies privately expressed discomfort.
“They tell them, ‘Look, we’re sorry, but this is all political. Why don’t you guys go and settle with them?’ Settling with them means what? Submit to be a member of APC, agree that Tinubu will have a second term.”
Defending his record in public office, El-Rufai challenged critics to produce evidence of corruption.
“I have 16 years’ record of public service and I have challenged every Nigerian that has worked with me or knows me to come forward and expose me if I’ve ever taken a bribe or demanded a bribe or done anything unlawful,” he said.
He referenced past investigations under former President Goodluck Jonathan, stating that no convictions resulted. He also said ongoing probes into his tenure in Kaduna State had yielded no substantive findings.
On allegations that his administration negotiated with or paid armed groups, he was categorical.
“I am probably one of the few governors that from day one took the position on the advice of my security council that we must never negotiate with cattle rustlers, with bandits. The position of the Kaduna State Government when I was governor is the only repentant bandit is a dead one. We never negotiated. We never paid any group for kidnapping anyone.”
He acknowledged that security funds were disbursed through established procedures but denied authorising payments to criminal groups.
Concluding, El-Rufai insisted that what occurred at the airport did not constitute a lawful arrest.
“Arrest has a legal meaning. Arrest means a lawful activity with a warrant. The police have, under the Police Act, the power to arrest without a warrant. But every other agency must go to a judge and show cause. So when you try to take a person without a valid order, it’s not an arrest, it’s an abduction.”
He maintained that he would honour lawful invitations from investigative agencies but would resist what he termed political intimidation.
“I will go to them. I have nothing to hide. But I will not submit to being abducted. There is a difference between lawful process and political intimidation,” he said.
